Editors from Time and Fortune presented Pope Francis with the report of their Global Forum in Rome, attended by select Fortune 500 CEOs, scholars, labor and church leaders and philanthropists. The report, “The 21st century Challenge: Forging a New Social Compact,” was inspired by the Pope’s plea for broader prosperity and lasting ways to lift the poor. Through a series of working groups on Dec. 2, Forum delegates focused on creating jobs and fair wages, reducing environmental degradation, improving education and health access, and becoming more financial inclusive. Among those present were CEOs from Dow Chemical, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Monsanto, McKinsey, Siemens, Virgin Group and WPP as well as leaders from non-profit organizations including the Rockefeller, Ford and Mo Ibrahim Foundations.
“Our world today is marked by great unrest,” Pope Francis told the delegates upon receiving the report. “Inequality between peoples continues to rise, and many communities are impacted directly by war and poverty, or the migration and displacement which flow from them…. Your very presence here today is a sign of such hope, because it shows that you recognize the issues before us and the imperative to act decisively.”
The report includes more than twenty solutions that focus on way the private sector can be a driving force in ending poverty. See the full report: