Davies addressed the UN on behalf of ECOSOC-accredited TechCeFaCos, carrying collective recommendations from Wales and the Global Empowerment and Inclusion Summits into the international review of sustainable cities and communities
Cardiff, Wales | 15 July 2026
Welsh diversity and inclusion leader Bernie Davies, Founder of Mastering Diversity CIC, has delivered a full statement at the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2026 in New York, carrying thought leadership developed through the Mastering Diversity ecosystem and the Global Empowerment and Inclusion Summits onto the international stage.
Davies delivered the intervention on behalf of the Technical Centre for Fine Art and Computer Studies CIG—TechCeFaCos—a Cameroon-headquartered non-governmental organisation holding consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 2013. She serves as TechCeFaCos’ Patron and Main Representative to the United Nations.
The intervention represents a significant milestone in the strategic partnership between TechCeFaCos and Mastering Diversity CIC. TechCeFaCos provides the formal UN mandate and international pathway, while Mastering Diversity—its Strategic Knowledge Partner—connects cross-sector expertise with grassroots and lived-experience voices, helping to shape the discussions, recommendations and thought leadership advanced through the partnership.
Davies’ statement drew directly upon the Global Empowerment and Inclusion Summits, which she conceptualised and curated at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The Summits brought together contributors from Wales, the wider United Kingdom and internationally across government, business, education, law, health, technology, sport, civil society and community leadership. Their collective insights informed official UN submissions and the Joint Communiqué taken forward to the 2026 High-Level Political Forum.
The statement was delivered during the Forum’s official review of Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. TechCeFaCos was formally called to address the sixth meeting of the HLPF, with its contribution now permanently recorded through UN Web TV and the official United Nations transcript.
The intervention urged governments, businesses, civil society and communities to replace fragmented initiatives with trusted, accountable partnerships capable of producing measurable and lasting social value.
“Sustainable cities and communities are not built solely through science, strategic planning and infrastructure. They are built through trust, collaboration and shared responsibility.”
“Our strongest message is this: sustainable communities and cities require partnerships that are built on trust, accountability and social value. Governments cannot deliver the 2030 Agenda alone, nor can the private sector or civil society.”
The intervention challenged the recurring cycle of waste, inefficient urban planning, flawed infrastructure, duplicated effort and missed opportunities to collaborate. It also called for communities to be treated as active partners in development rather than passive recipients of decisions.
“Sustainable communities are not created for people; they are created with people. Through partnership, trust and shared purpose, we can build cities and communities that leave no one behind—because we go together or not at all.”
Officially recorded by the United Nations
The UN transcript of the sixth HLPF meeting records the Chair formally giving the floor to the representative of the Technical Centre for Fine Art and Computer Studies. The full statement and its attribution to the organisation appear in the permanent record of the session.
Watch the official UN Web TV statement: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1l/k1lb7ooff4?kalturaSeekFrom=9024&kalturaClipTo=9147&kalturaStartTime=1
Read the official United Nations transcript: https://transcripts.un.org/en/asset/k1l/k1lb7ooff4
TechCeFaCos is listed in the United Nations ECOSOC Civil Society Database. UN records confirm that the organisation has held consultative status with ECOSOC since 2013: https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/showProfileDetail.do?method=showProfileDetails&profileCode=616837&tab=1
From community dialogue to global advocacy
The statement delivered in New York was rooted in more than two years of structured dialogue through the Global Empowerment and Inclusion Summits, convened by TechCeFaCos at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Davies conceptualised and curated the Summits after TechCeFaCos approached her to help create a platform capable of elevating their shared commitment to empowerment, inclusion and sustainable development.
The first Summit, held at the United Nations in Geneva on 26 June 2025, brought together leaders, practitioners, academics, businesses, young people and community voices from Wales and across the world. It is officially recorded by the United Nations as having been organised by the Technical Centre for Fine Art and Computer Studies, an NGO in consultative status with ECOSOC.
Insights developed through the Summit informed a written statement submitted by TechCeFaCos to the United Nations. The statement was published as an official Economic and Social Council document and circulated to UN Member States. The official document identifies TechCeFaCos as the convening Secretariat of the Global Empowerment and Inclusion Summit: https://docs.un.org/en/E/CN.6/2026/NGO/94
The work contributed to further engagement at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women—CSW70—in New York in March 2026, where Davies was joined by members of a Welsh delegation.
In May 2026, TechCeFaCos convened the second Global Empowerment and Inclusion Summit in Room VIII at the Palais des Nations. One of its principal outcomes was a Joint Communiqué supporting the 2026 High-Level Political Forum and addressing the interconnected challenges presented by SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11 and 17.
The communiqué called for stronger collaboration among governments, the private sector, civil society and communities; investment supported by public trust; transparent accountability; and social value that people can experience—not simply promises preserved in policy documents. Davies carried that collective message into the HLPF chamber in New York.
“The travel was never the achievement; it was simply the vehicle. The achievement was taking the knowledge, experiences and recommendations entrusted to us by our thought leaders and communities into a global policy space.”
Mastering Diversity thought leadership moves from Wales to the world
Mastering Diversity CIC is the Wales-based organisation whose cross-sector ecosystem contributed thought leadership to the Global Empowerment and Inclusion Summits.
As the Strategic Knowledge Partner of TechCeFaCos, Mastering Diversity supports collaborative discussions that bring public, private and third-sector leaders into dialogue with grassroots communities, young people and people with lived experience.
Welsh and Mastering Diversity thought leaders have contributed expertise across equality, health, education, entrepreneurship, justice, technology, sport, representation, youth empowerment and sustainable development. Their insights have helped inform discussions convened at the United Nations in Geneva and the collective outcomes subsequently presented through official UN channels.
“This was not one person’s voice arriving at the United Nations. It carried the thinking, evidence and lived experience of an ecosystem. Welsh thought leadership did not remain within the borders of Wales. It travelled—and it was heard.”
The global conversation comes home to Wales
The next stage of the work will take place at the Mastering Diversity Conference 2026 on Thursday 10 September 2026, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff.
Under the banner ‘We Go Together or Not at All,’ the Conference will bring businesses, public bodies, charities, community leaders, young people, practitioners and lived-experience experts together. Rather than speaking at communities, the Conference is designed to speak with them.
Dedicated interactive Zones will examine the realities of diversity, equity and inclusion across business, public services, STEM, education, health, sport, gender equality, representation and access to justice. Participants will identify challenges, share evidence of what works and explore the partnerships required to turn commitments into measurable action.
The Conference will continue in Wales the central conversation taken to the HLPF: how governments, businesses, civil society and communities can build partnerships based on trust, accountability and social value.
“New York was not the end of this journey. The work now comes home to Wales. The Mastering Diversity Conference is where international ambition meets local experience and local accountability.”
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