Global Leadership Foundation

The Global Leadership Foundation (GLF) is an NGO founded in 2004 by former State President of South Africa and Nobel Prize laureate F.W. de Klerk.

Composed of a number of former statesmen, ex-presidents and Prime Ministers, the Global Leadership Foundation exists to "promote good governance- democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law- and to contribute to the prevention and resolution of conflict through mediation [ [http://www.g-l-f.org/ Welcome to GLF Global Leadership Foundation ] ] " based on the experience of its members.

Members

Current members of the Global Leadership Foundation include [ [http://www.g-l-f.org/pagebuilder.asp?id=239 Welcome to GLF Global Leadership Foundation ] ] :

*FW de Klerk, Chairman- President, Republic of South Africa 1989-94
*HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal- Jordan
*Ketumile Masire- President, Republic of Botswana 1980-1998
*António Mascarenhas Monteiro- President, Cape Verde 1991-2001
*Fidel Valdez Ramos- President, Republic of the Philippines 1992-98
*Cassam Uteem- President, Mauritius 1992-2002
*Kaspar Villiger- President, Swiss Confederation 1995 & 2002
*Joe Clark- Prime Minister, Canada 1979-80; Secretary of State for External Affairs 1984-1991
*Abdul Kareem al-Eryani- Prime Minister, Yemen 1980-83 & 1998-2001
*Michel Rocard- Prime Minister, France 1988-91
*Mike Moore- Prime Minister, New Zealand 1990; Director-General WTO 1999-2002
*Anand Panyarachun- Prime Minister, Thailand 1991-2
*P.J. Patterson- Prime Minister, Jamaica 1992-2006
*José María Aznar- Prime Minister, Spain 1996-2004
*Armen Sarkissian- Prime Minister, Armenia 1996-97
*I.K.Gujral- Prime Minister, India 1997-8
*Hans van den Broek- Foreign Minister of the Netherlands 1982-93; Member European Commission 1993-99
*Lord Hurd of Westwell- UK Home Secretary 1985-9; Foreign Secretary 1989-95
*Bronislaw Geremek- Foreign Minister, Poland 1997-2000
*Baroness Chalker of Wallasey- UK Minister of Overseas Development 1989-97
*Chester A. Crocker- US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs 1981-89
*Donald F. McHenry- US Ambassador to the UN 1979-81
*John C. Danforth- US Senator, 1976-95; Ambassador to the UN 2004-05
*Elisabeth Rehn- UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights 1998-9; Finnish Minister of Defence 1990-95; Equality Affairs 1995-8

Organisation

The Global Leadership Foundation was registered in Bern, Switzerland in March 2004. It operates from a secretariat in London headed by former British diplomat, Sir Robin Christopher. Individual advisory members operate independently from the location of the secretariat.

Projects

According to its website, the Global Leadership Foundation “has a growing portfolio of projects undertaken in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.” Because discretion is a key aspect of the Global Leadership Foundation’s concept and success, and although they are open about their mission, they do not publicly disclose the countries in which they are working unless the Head of Government of said country chooses to do so. A ‘Leadership Committee’ made up of some of the GLF Members decides if and how a project should be mounted. Exactly how projects or governments are chosen or rejected is not specified, but the website states that “GLF will consider requests from any government that is committed to or aspires to the principles of democratic institutions, human rights, open markets and the rule of law. [ [http://www.g-l-f.org/ Welcome to GLF Global Leadership Foundation ] ] ” As an example the GLF have declared that Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe was not a regime that would receive GLF services. Two of the Global Leadership Foundation’s projects, however, are in the public domain and may therefore be discussed openly by the organization. These projects took place in East Timor and Colombia.

Funding

The Global Leadership Foundation is an independent, not-for-profit organization. It is funded by a combination of donations from foundations, corporations, and private individuals. To preserve GLF’s independence, a limit is placed on donations from any one corporation. Donors are invited to join GLF's network of supporters, known as its “International Council" [ [http://www.g-l-f.org/pagebuilder.asp?id=216 Welcome to GLF Global Leadership Foundation ] ] .

To keep its operating costs down, GLF employs a very small permanent staff and keeps its infrastructure, fixed assets and overheads to a minimum. It aims to recover project costs from its clients.

References