As an alumnus of the McCain Institute Global Leaders Program, I had the privilege to join colleagues in New York for the 79th UN General Assembly meeting. Having just begun my tenure as CEO of the David Nott Foundation, I am immensely grateful to the McCain Institute for the opportunity to be in New York at this pivotal time. UNGA week is an odd week, to say the least. Most of the world’s leaders converge on the city, all within about 10 blocks of each other. A rather long and procedural week in the General Assembly is juxtaposed with frantic, elaborate and star-studded summits in the hotels and conference halls surrounding it. Through the bluster and pomp, I found deeply thoughtful and driven people from state, business and non-profit organizations.
In a week that saw increased activity in Lebanon, as well as intensified rhetoric across the region, the Middle East dominated the airwaves. This acute crisis only added to the sense of overwhelm I detected throughout. In a conversation we had with a U.S. Senator, he explained myriad briefs he had received on the multiple conflicts globally in just one morning. He described feeling somewhat conflicted as to where to place his efforts. Despite the power of the U.S. government, it is clear it is having to adapt rapidly to the shifting geopolitics.
My time in New York gave me an opportunity to better understand and explore the David Nott Foundation’s role in the world at a time of violence and chaos. Training war doctors is critical. From those I met unfamiliar with the David Nott Foundation, the most common response was “we need you more than ever right now!” And of course they are right. Whether fellow aid groups, government ministers, philanthropists and journalists, the work of the foundation is right on the spear of both humanitarianism and long-term development. It is tangible and impactful work.
For almost 10 years, we have been operating in some of the most violent places on earth. We have trained over 2,000 doctors to be war doctors, improving their skills in treating the traumatic injuries commonly seen in war, and in working in austere and over-stretched health care facilities. Facilities that are often the target of offensive action. We are currently preparing for missions in Ukraine and Syria in the coming months, with 2025 set to be even busier for our teams. We intend to focus on delivering courses in Palestine and in some of the forgotten and ignored conflicts around the world, including DRC and Sudan. But like the U.S. Senator I mentioned, our bandwidth and resources are stretched. Never before have so many people needed war doctors. Never before has our product been so in demand.
Through the week I saw many examples of brilliant and innovative work. However, it was the story of the HALO Trust and their 30 years of work in Angola, in partnership with the Angolan government, that left its mark on my mind. The painstaking work of clearing land mines and the associated debris of war is no quick fix. It is complex, dangerous, demoralizing, frightening and slow. The work in Angola required a deep commitment by all partners in the face of what must have felt like an insurmountable task. It is a shining example of integral development work: the acknowledgment that we cannot achieve anything alone; and a realization that many of us will not be around when the work is finally done.
For the Foundation that I now run, this example acts as a north star. It was oddly comforting to know that leaders of other organizations, big and small, are seeing the limits of their capabilities in isolation. It engendered a deeper sense of togetherness throughout the week, especially at the Concordia Summit. The David Nott Foundation offers a rare and precious set of skills, knowledge and understanding. This is undoubtedly challenging to scale.
My job is to make sure we use our unique position to bring our knowledge to more and more doctors, whilst always maintaining excellence. This can only happen with collaboration, something that the McCain Global Leaders Program emphasized. Our focus must be on nurturing existing partnerships in the countries we work, forging new ones in the war zones we have not touched yet, and leaning on the experiences of those within the wider community such as the team at HALO Trust. We cannot reach everyone, but, working with others, we can adapt to reach more people, in new ways.
