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Global Events Forecast - March 2018
1 March 2018
Every month, the GGI compiles a list of upcoming international events that have some implications for its work. Here is a compilation of global meetings and events coming up in March 2018.
| 4 March | General elections in Italy On 4 March, Italian voters will elect a new parliament. Polls point to an increasingly fragmented political landscape, split three ways between the centre-left, the centre-right (a coalition of three parties led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi), and the populist 5-Star Movement. The vote is being held under a new electoral law, which many analysts believe will not be able to deliver a stable government. |
| 4 March | SPD vote on coalition deal in Germany Since 20 February, members of the German Social Democrats (SPD) have been voting on whether their party should enter into a new grand coalition with Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU). The results of the internal referendum will be announced on 4 March. If the coalition deal is rejected, a new election or a minority government is likely. |
| 5-7 March | IPCC Cities and Climate Change Science Conference Co-sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the inaugural Cities and Climate Change Science Conference will take place in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) from 5 to 7 March. The primary goal of the conference is to advance the scientific understanding of how climate change will impact cities and the role of cities in tackling climate change. |
| 7 March | General elections in Sierra Leone Sierra Leoneans will head to the polls on March 7 to elect a new president and a new parliament. This will be the fourth multi-party elections in Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war in 2002. |
| 11 March | Parliamentary elections in Colombia Parliamentary elections will be held in Colombia on 11 March. For the first time, the former guerrilla group FARC will be participating in the election, having officially recast itself as a political party last year. Presidential elections in Colombia are scheduled for 27 May 2018. |
| 13 March | UK Spring Statement The UK's next fiscal statement (the Spring Statement) is scheduled for 13 March 2018. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will give a short speech, responding to fiscal forecasts produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility. However, the Spring Statement is not a major fiscal event and no spending announcements will be made. |
| 17-18 March | ASEAN-Australia Special Summit For the first time, Australia will host a Summit with ASEAN leaders in Australia from 17-18 March. The focus of the Special Summit will be on regional security and economic issues. The meeting will be preceded by a joint Business Summit and a Counter-Terrorism Conference. |
| 18 March | Russian presidential elections On 18 March, Russians will go to the polls to elect a new president. Vladimir Putin is widely anticipated to secure another term, keeping him in office for six more years (until 2024). Prominent opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has been barred from running, has called for a nation-wide boycott of the elections. |
| 18-23 March | World Water Forum / Launch of International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development The 8th World Water Forum will take place in Brasilia (Brazil) from 18 to 23 March. Organised by the World Water Council (WWC), it brings together a large diversity of stakeholders interested in the theme of water. The forum takes place ahead of World Water Day on 22 March, when the United Nations General Assembly will launch the International Decade for Action: Water for Sustainable Development (2018-2028). |
| 22-23 March | Spring EU Summit EU leaders will meet from 22 to 23 March in Brussels, where, among, other things, they are expected to decide on a post-Brexit transition deal, and agree on guidelines for the second phase of negotiations on the future relationship between the UK and the EU. |
| 24 March | US-wide protests against gun violence Following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, survivors of the shooting have mobilised to organise the 'March for Our Lives', a US-wide protest against gun violence. Organisers believe that up to 500,000 people could travel to Washington D.C. on 24 March to demand "a comprehensive and effective bill" on gun control. |
| 26-28 March | Presidential elections in Egypt Presidential elections will be held in Egypt between 26 and 28 March 2018, with incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi widely expected to win. He faces only one opponent, Moussa Mostafa Moussa, who has previously endorsed el-Sisi for a second term. Other potential challengers have either been arrested or they dropped out citing government intimidation. Major human rights organisations have voiced their concern about the upcoming elections, saying that they lack "the minimum requirements for free and fair elections." |
| Notable International Days |
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For more global events, especially those related to peace and security issues, please refer to the website of the IPI Global Observatory.
