This month Wilton Park hosted meetings of both our advisory council and board. The Wilton Park Advisory Council is an important source of expertise and support to our work, while the board provides oversight and guidance. We were able to report good news. During the last financial year, we hit our financial targets again, covering all our costs through income generated.
During that time we hosted 78 events bringing together over 3,200 people from across 137 countries. Our priorities have included support for Ukraine and for interfaith dialogue, including wherever possible on the Middle East, building global consensus on migration, promoting faster and more effective action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and mobilise the finance required to do so, and championing the rights of women and girls.
We have also worked to improve access to green climate finance, particularly for smaller and Commonwealth countries. Finally, we have been doing more to support global trade. This is all quite apart from our substantive work on defence and security issues, and our growing focus on technology including cyber and AI.
It has been a busy year, and the coming year promises to be busier still, discreetly convening key officials and experts from around the world to find practical ways forward on critical challenges – for both UK and global benefit.