AgentM
07-18-2007, 04:58 PM
Johannesburg, South Africa - It was about as high-level a gathering of former leaders as one could imagine.
Former President Jimmy Carter was there. Former Irish President Mary Robinson was in attendance. Kofi Annan, who just stepped down as Secretary General of the United Nations, was sitting tall.
And, on the far side of the small stage, relaxing with a hint of a smile on his face, was the most famous former leader of them all and the man who had brought them together for the occasion – former South African President Nelson Mandela.
"The Elders."
That is what this clutch of influential men and women are calling themselves. And Wednesday, on Mandela's 89th birthday, they gathered here in Constitution Hill (a former complex where Mandela and other political prisoners were held under apartheid) to unveil their new global initiative and explain their intentions.
"This group of elders will bring hope and wisdom back into the world," said British businessman Richard Branson. He and his friend, the rock star Peter Gabriel, came up with the idea and pushed for the creation of such a group. "The elders will play a role in bringing us together to help unnecessary human suffering and to celebrate the wonderful world we are privileged to be part of."
The other members of the group of elders, announced yesterday, are Graça Machel, a Mozambican human rights activist and Mandela's wife (they celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary Wednesday); Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in extending loans to impoverished borrowers; and Li Zhaoxing, China's foreign minister, until this year.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0719/p07s02-woaf.html
Former President Jimmy Carter was there. Former Irish President Mary Robinson was in attendance. Kofi Annan, who just stepped down as Secretary General of the United Nations, was sitting tall.
And, on the far side of the small stage, relaxing with a hint of a smile on his face, was the most famous former leader of them all and the man who had brought them together for the occasion – former South African President Nelson Mandela.
"The Elders."
That is what this clutch of influential men and women are calling themselves. And Wednesday, on Mandela's 89th birthday, they gathered here in Constitution Hill (a former complex where Mandela and other political prisoners were held under apartheid) to unveil their new global initiative and explain their intentions.
"This group of elders will bring hope and wisdom back into the world," said British businessman Richard Branson. He and his friend, the rock star Peter Gabriel, came up with the idea and pushed for the creation of such a group. "The elders will play a role in bringing us together to help unnecessary human suffering and to celebrate the wonderful world we are privileged to be part of."
The other members of the group of elders, announced yesterday, are Graça Machel, a Mozambican human rights activist and Mandela's wife (they celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary Wednesday); Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in extending loans to impoverished borrowers; and Li Zhaoxing, China's foreign minister, until this year.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0719/p07s02-woaf.html