EDITOR’S LETTER GLOBAL CITIZEN PUBLISHER Armand Peponnet EDITOR Natasha Tourish - nt@global-citizen.com SUB EDITOR Tahira Yaqoob - ty@global-citizen.com LIFESTYLE EDITOR Nausheen Noor - nn@global-citizen.com ART DIRECTOR Omid Khadem - ok@global-citizen.com FINANCE MANAGER Muhammad Tauseef - mtauseef@reachmedia.ae CONTRIBUTORS Oliver Robinson, Sheema Khan, Triska Hamid, Amanda Fisher, Peter Allen, Louise Barnett
s this year draws to a close, it is hard not to reflect on sombre images from the past few months and wonder what 2016 holds. From the pictures of hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring across Europe’s borders to the catastrophic numbers who have drowned while journeying to presumed safety, epitomised so poignantly in the body of a three-year-old boy washed up on Turkey’s shores, the world is in crisis and it is down to each one of us to play our part—whether it is in the medical frontline saving lives like Dr Javed Abdelmoneim, through philanthropy or via entrepreneurship and the ability to come up with innovative solutions outside the box. As Kofi Annan said as he wound up his speech at the Global Citizen Forum last month in Monaco, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ He gave the audience food for thought with that African proverb—one which German chancellor Angela Merkel is no doubt reiterating daily in Europe’s corridors of power as she tries to muster support from fellow EU countries to reduce the intense scrutiny she is under from within her own party over her decision to allow thousands of refugees into Germany on a daily basis. In this issue Louise Barnett, our correspondent in Berlin, looks at Germany’s ongoing crisis and talks to aid workers from SOS Children’s Villages, who are helping to house the increasing number of refugee children travelling alone. But what is heartening in these troubled times are the South Asian billionaire philanthropists who devote their time to running profitable social businesses and funding vital public services that the state fails to provide. Meanwhile, the American philanthropist Eli Broad takes us around his new art museum in Los Angeles and explains why he thinks the city of angels should be the capital for contemporary art. Which takes us to our cover—graced by the legendary Hollywood actor Harrison Ford as he makes his return in one of the year’s most anticipated movies, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Rumours have been rife that Abu Dhabi will host a regional premiere on December 15 as a considerable chunk of the movie was filmed in the emirate’s Empty Quarter, which doubled for Tatooine. With speculation swirling, Star Wars fans can get their Han Solo fix from GC’s interview with the veteran actor in the meantime.
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Wishing you a peaceful New Year.
Natasha Tourish
12
NOV / DEC 2015
Photo by Andy Gotts