- Global Elders
The Global Elders or The Elders is a group of
public figure s noted as elder statesmen,peace activist s, andhuman rights advocates. The goal of the group is to solve global problems, using "almost 1,000 years of collective experience" to work on solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems like climate change, HIV/AIDS, andpoverty , and "use their political independence to help resolve some of the world's most intractableconflict s." [ [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/59C0C017-4A63-4F97-9D91-D1A336A2B83A.htm Aljazeera.net. "Mandela unveils 'council of elders'] ]Background
The Elders are chaired by former Archbishop
Desmond Tutu and currently consists of 12 leaders.The group was initiated by Sir Richard Branson and musician and human rights activist
Peter Gabriel together with anti-apartheid activist and former South African PresidentNelson Mandela . The Elders are sponsored by a group of founders who helped raise US$18 million for the group over the last three years. Nelson Mandela announced the formation of the group on his 89th birthday on 18 July 2007 inJohannesburg ,South Africa [ [http://youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C801BC01AA46FEC2 Youtube.com. "The Elders press launch in Johannesburg, South Africa] ] .The group of Elders present at the announcement were Mandela; Mozambican activist
Graça Machel , Mandela's wife; formerUnited Nations Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan ; former Irish PresidentMary Robinson ;Nobel Peace Prize winnersDesmond Tutu , formerUnited States PresidentJimmy Carter ,Grameen Bank founder andmicrocredit pioneerMuhammad Yunus ; and former Chinese Foreign MinisterLi Zhaoxing . At the launch ceremony a chair was left empty on the stage to signifyAung San Suu Kyi , the human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner who is apolitical prisoner inBurma . Other members who were not present at the launch were theIndia ntrade union leader andSEWA founderEla Bhatt , former Norwegian Prime MinisterGro Harlem Brundtland , formerAlgeria n ambassador and veteran U.N. envoy and advisorLakhdar Brahimi , and former Brazilian PresidentFernando Henrique Cardoso .Princess Mabel of Orange of the Netherlands was appointed as the group's first Chief Executive Officer.
The announcement of the Global Elders was greeted with skepticism in some quarters. For example, conservative Canadian journalist
Mark Steyn [http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTFhOGRiY2IxOGE5NDNhMjhkNmNmZGZiZGQ1MTc2NTY= "commented"] : "Oldboomer slogan: Never trust anybody over 30. New boomer slogan: Never trust anybody under 80."The Elders' work
The Elders' first mission was to travel to
Sudan in September-October 2007 to foster peace in theDarfur crisis.The Elders' other major initiatives thus far was TheEvery Human Has Rights Campaign. A third initiative, a mission to the Middle East is planned to begin in early April.The Elders have further made several press statements on issues like Press Freedom, Sustainable Peace, The Middle East, Zimbabwe and Iran.
Every Human Has Rights
The
Every Human Has Rights (EHHR) campaign was launched on the 59th anniversary of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), December 10th, 2007 , inCape Town ,South Africa . The Elders launched the initiative in partnership with a diverse group of global NGOs, civil society organizations and businesses to highlight UDHR principles, including the right to health, women’s rights, and freedom of expression. Launch partners includedActionAid ,Amnesty International , the Center for Women’s Global Leadership,International PEN , WITNESS, Realizing Rights,Save the Children andUNICEF and throughout the year plans to expand, including partners from civil society organizations in the developing world through networks like CIVICUS and directly. According to the official press release, the EHHR campaign is an ongoing initiative of The Elders, with the stated goal of working to "empower global citizens to protect and realize the first-ever comprehensive agreement on human rights among nations" [ [http://dl.groovygecko.net/anon.groovy/clients/akqa/projectamber/press/20071210-EHHR_Press_Release.pdf "Every Human Has Rights - press release"] ]The Darfur Mission
The Elders' Darfur Mission took place from September 30th to October 4th of 2007. Elders Desmond Tutu, Lakhdar Brahimi, Jimmy Carter, and Graça Machel traveled to
Sudan to assess the situation inDarfur and affirm the group’s support of the fragile peace negotiated between North and South Sudan in the two-year-old Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). They began the trip inKhartoum , where they met with Sudanese PresidentOmar el-Bashir , other government officials, and representatives of opposition political parties, the United Nations, the African Union, the diplomatic community and international organizations, including humanitarian agencies. The Elders published a report on their findings titled "Bringing Hope, Forging Peace: The Elders Sudan Report" [ [http://dl.groovygecko.net/anon.groovy/clients/akqa/projectamber/press/sudan/The_Elders_Mission_to_Sudan.pdf "The Elders Mission to Sudan - press release"] ] .Middle East Mission
The Elders are planning to send a three-person team on a mission to the Middle East from April 13-21 [ [http://www.archive.org/download/March62008-TheEldersPressRelease-MiddleEastMission/March62008-TheEldersPressRelease-MiddleEastMission.pdf "The Elders Mission to the Middle East - press release"] ] [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/961968.html Haaretz.com. "Carter, Annan to lead peace delegation to Middle East next month"] ] . Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, and Mary Robinson, will visit Israel, the
Palestinian territories ,Egypt ,Jordan ,Syria , andSaudi Arabia to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the interlocking Middle Eastern conflicts. At the end of the mission, the Elders plan to prepare a report for the public to help people understand the urgency of peace and what is needed to secure it. The Elders also plan to meet and begin to work with groups that will reinforce the efforts by the government of Israel and thePalestinian Authority to negotiate a peace agreement based on atwo-state solution .References
* [http://abcnews.go.com/International/TenWays/story?id=3389067&page=1 "ABC News"]
* [http://dl.groovygecko.net/anon.groovy/clients/akqa/projectamber/press/The_Elders-Press_Release.pdf "Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu announce The Elders - press release]External links
* [http://www.theelders.org/ The Elders' Official Website]
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