In tribal villages it is the elders to whom the people turn in times of
crisis. Could a group of universally respected figures bring those same
qualities of leadership and wisdom to bear on the global village? Just such
an initiative has been launched by Nelson Mandela. In an exclusive report,
Mick Brown charts the development of the Global Elders
On a cool South African autumn day in May, an extraordinary group of people
assembled around a table in the great room at Ulusaba, the private game
reserve owned by Sir Richard Branson. Among them were Nelson Mandela and his
wife Graca Machel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the former American president
Jimmy Carter, and the former president of Ireland and chair of the United
Nations Human Rights Commission, Mary Robinson.
This was the first gathering of the Global Elders the initiative created
by Mandela, and formally announced by him in Johannesburg this week.
Ulusaba is one of the most luxurious private game reserves in Africa. Set in
13,500 hectares on the edge of the Kruger National Park, it was opened by
Branson in 1989. Guests normally pay up to ￡1,000 a night to stay there, but
for five days the lodge was closed to business as the gathering deliberated
on what the Elders might achieve, and how they should present themselves to
the world. Around the table, the core group and a circle of advisers
including the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, the English
parliamentarian Tony Benn and CS Kiang, founder of the College of
Environmental Studies at Beijing University, listened to briefings from
analysts and experts on a range of topics from Darfur to nuclear
proliferation.
On one evening, as the gathering dined outside on the terrace, bandaged
against the autumnal chill in borrowed fleeces and ponchos, they were
addressed on the situation in Gaza by Yasser Abd Rabbo, a member of the
PLO’s executive committee, widely recognised as a Palestinian 'dove’, and
the Israeli peace activist and former justice minister Yossi Beilin, both
instrumental in the Geneva Peace Accord. On another, they were entertained
by a spontaneous performance by the musician Peter Gabriel, singing his
composition, Biko, about the ANC activist Steve Biko, whose murder in police
custody in 1977 made him a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement.
As well as those gathered around the table in May, the group that Nelson
Mandela announced this week will also comprise the former Secretary General
of the UN Kofi Annan; Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist and
so-called 'banker to the poor’, who devised the idea of microcredit the
extension of small loans to people too poor to qualify for bank loans; Li
Zhaoxing, the former Foreign Minister of China; Ela Bhatt, the Indian
women’s activist and founder of SEWA, the Self Employed Women’s Association;
and Gro Harlen Bruntland, the former prime minister of Norway and director
of the World Health Organisation. Five of the group are Nobel Peace
laureates.
Two more names will be added in the coming months to bring the total to 12.
And an invitation has also been extended to Aung San Suu Kyi, the
democratically elected leader of Burma, who has spent much of the past 18
years detained under house arrest by the military junta that governs the
country; a chair will be kept empty at all Elders meetings until such time
as she is able to occupy it.
So what exactly are the Global Elders? A self-elected 'dream team’ for
putative world government? An alternative to an increasingly divisive and
moribund United Nations? The mission statement that accompanied this week’s
announcement couches their objectives in deliberately moderate language.
'The Elders,’ it states, 'are coming together to contribute wisdom,
independent leadership and moral courage to tackle some of the world’s most
serious problems.’ It is said that they will seek to use their influence and
experience to 'persuade and facilitate’ action on a broad range of issues,
making themselves available to act as 'honest brokers’ in conflict
resolution, serving as a 'megaphone’ to amplify the volume on crisis
situations such as diminishing natural resources, Aids and malaria, and act
as an independent voice of reason and wisdom on the shoulder of governments
and other organisations.
What they will not do is execute on-the-ground programmes, or duplicate work
being performed by the UN and other organisations. They will have no
legislative or political power, no armies at their disposal, and no
billion-dollar budgets. In short, they will be a test of how effective the
weapons of wisdom, independence and moral authority can be to leverage
global change.
For Branson and Gabriel, the gathering at Ulusuba held a particular
sweetness the culmination of a dream they have been nurturing for the past
eight years. The pair have been good friends for many years, but it was in
1999 when they first began to talk in theoretical terms about how the
tradition in indigenous cultures of tribal elders serving as the repository
of wisdom, judgement and long-term thinking might be applied in the global
village. The premise that Branson and Gabriel thrashed out was deceptively
simple there are any number of organisations and institutions, from the UN
down, dedicated to solving the world’s myriad problems, but there is no
single group that is totally independent, deriving its authority not from
political, economic, military or religious power but from wisdom and
experience. What might such a group achieve?
Each saw the possibilities in a different way. Branson envisaged a group of
globally respected individuals who could use their influence to mobilise
resources to combat the pandemics of Aids or malaria, and to prevent and
resolve global conflicts. 'A group of Elders might be able to look at
situations slightly differently than the United Nations does, or individual
governments with their own vested interests do,’ he says. 'I know as a
businessman that sometimes if you think you’re slightly ahead of the game,
you become wedded to your position, and you may need someone to come in and
help you save face in a climb-down position. There are occasions where both
sides have got themselves into an impossible situation and it requires a
completely disinterested party to see how they can extricate themselves from
that.’
Gabriel saw it rather differently. A long-time supporter of human rights
causes, he founded Witness, a grassroots organisation that puts cameras and
video equipment into the hands of ordinary people to record human rights
abuses around the world a 'YouTube for human rights’, as he puts it. He
envisaged a globally elected council of the wise, using the internet and
mobile-phone technology to respond to grassroots problems in a way
governments are unable to do. Both agreed only one man could ever bring such
a project to fruition: Nelson Mandela.
'To me, and I think most others, there is nobody who epitomises a
universally acclaimed moral authority more than Nelson Mandela,’ Branson
says. 'Here was somebody who by rights ought to have been consumed by
bitterness after years in prison, but he forgave his captors and welcomed
them into government; he prevented a whole nation going down the precipice
into conflagration. He’s a wonderful example to everyone.’ Through his
philanthropic interests in South Africa, Branson had come to know Mandela
well.
In autumn 2001, he was entertaining Mandela at his Holland Park home.
Gabriel joined them, and over lunch he and Branson gently floated their idea
of the Elders. Mandela’s response was guarded: the UN, he said, might look
askance at a self-elected group presuming to step on their territory. But he
could see the value of the idea. He remembered how in his mediations between
the Tutsis and the Hutus both sides had said it was as if they were talking
to a father advising them, rather than to someone with an agenda of his own.
'I think the success of that made Mandela see how 12 figures such as himself
could be 12 times as powerful in certain situations,’ Branson says. Mandela
told them he would give the idea serious thought.
Branson says he has never been interested in running for political or public
office, but nor has he been shy of using his influence and resources in the
service of causes he believes in. In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait leading
to the first Gulf War, at the request of his friend the late King Hussein of
Jordan, Branson used Virgin aircraft to airlift supplies to refugees fleeing
into Jordan and later mounted a mercy flight to bring home British citizens
held hostage by Saddam Hussein.
In recent years, his growing friendships with Mandela, Bill Clinton and Al
Gore have encouraged him to deepen his interest in the possibilities of what
he describes as socially responsible entrepreneurialism. Last year he
pledged to commit all the profits from his transportation businesses over
the next 10 years estimated at $3 billion to Clinton’s global initiative
to develop clean fuels. He has also offered a prize of $25 million of his
own money to anyone who can devise a way of taking damaging carbon emissions
from the atmosphere.
Branson has never been afraid to think big, or been deflected by obstacles
others might regard as insurmountable. But nothing rivals in audacity his
attempt unilaterally to avert the Gulf War in 2003. As America was preparing
to invade Iraq, Branson, through intermediaries, explored the possibility of
Saddam Hussein being assured of safe haven in Libya. He then approached
Mandela asking if he would be prepared to fly to Iraq to persuade Saddam to
step down. Mandela said he would if Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of
the United Nations, and South Africa’s President Tabo Mbeki agreed to the
plan. Branson sought, and was given, both their blessings. But before
Mandela could board a private plane to fly from Johannesburg to Baghdad,
America invaded. 'It may have come to nothing anyway,’ Branson says, 'but it
was an example of a universally respected, individual elder, working outside
the conventional political process, who might have made a difference.’
A few months later, in November 2003, Branson and Gabriel were both in South
Africa for an all-star concert to launch Mandela’s 46664 Aids charity [46664
was Mandela’s prisoner number on Robben Island] which they had organised
with the musician Dave Stewart. Afterwards, at Mandela’s home, they again
broached the idea of a council of global Elders, asking whether Mandela and
his wife Graca Machel would lead such a project and become the founding
Elders. Warming to the idea, Mandela asked Branson to research the
logistical feasibilities.
Branson now set up a team, led by Jean Oelwang, the chief executive of
Virgin Unite, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group, with the
objective of defining what a council of Elders would look like, what it
might do and, as Oelwang says, 'bringing together the collective wisdom of
some of the world’s most remarkable leaders with no other agenda but that of
humanity.’
The first question was the most difficult: who should the Elders be? The
number of figures who command not only universal recognition but universal
respect can be counted on the fingers of one hand. How do you arrive at a
group of 12 the number had been decided by an unspoken consensus that
would equitably represent gender, ethnicity and cultural pluralism?
Mandela had already outlined a handful of names that he would like to join
him; to research further candidates, Oelwang recruited Scilla Elworthy. She
is the founder of the Oxford Research Group, which she established in 1982
to study global security issues and develop dialogue between nuclear-weapons
policy makers and their critics. She is also the founder of Peace Direct, a
grassroots organisation devoted to developing conflict resolution skills,
and has herself been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Over the next 18 months, Elworthy consulted government figures, diplomats,
civic leaders and Nobel Peace Prize winners throughout the world, assembling
a long-list of individuals for consideration as possible Elders. At this
point it was felt expedient to reveal as little of the project as possible.
In her canvassing of names, Elworthy referred to the project simply as an
initiative to influence decision-making on global issues.
'We felt we shouldn’t use Nelson Mandela’s name we didn’t want it to get
into the press in the wrong way. We simply said this was going to be
something at the highest level, led by absolutely impeccable names with
global moral authority. And it wasn’t going to be just a talking shop; it
was going to be about direct action.’ 0
Through a process of discussion and elimination, a set of criteria began to
emerge for prospective Elders. The first, and most important, was that they
should not be currently involved in politics; they should have no personal
agenda, vested interest or bias. They should have earned international
trust, demonstrated outstanding integrity and built a reputation for
non-coercive leadership.
'It was important to find people who had displayed moral courage,’ Elworthy
says. 'In other words, they had been in some situation that had demanded
them to stand up against oppressive forces, dictatorship or whatever.’ Aung
San Suu Kyi is an outstanding example, she says.
'Secondly, they should have made a real difference to very large numbers of
people in some way that had dramatically changed their lives.’ Muhammad
Yunus was a good example. 'Here is somebody who has devised a replicable and
massively important technique for lifting people out of poverty, surmounted
all the difficulties and actually made it work,’ Elworthy says.
'Another criterion is the demonstration that they can move beyond their own
fear in a significant way. Nelson Mandela would be the obvious example
there, having put up with 27 years of incarceration and facing fear daily in
the early days. Then there’s the ability to listen, which everybody involved
in this considers terribly important. And the last thing was the realisation
that all the truly great people have a sense of humour. Archbishop Tutu
absolutely epitomises that. It wasn’t a criterion, but it emerged as a
common characteristic.’
By the end of the process, Elworthy had drawn up a biographical databank of
more than 300 people human rights activists, scientists, economists,
philosophers, spiritual and tribal leaders, social visionaries, specialists
in health care, education and environmental issues drawn from almost every
corner and culture of the world. In time, this would be filtered down yet
further to just 30 names, including a clutch of former presidents and prime
ministers, an internationally acclaimed author and four renowned religious
and spiritual leaders. Six of the 30 were Nobel Peace Prize winners.
In August 2006 a remarkable assortment of individuals gathered on Necker
Island, Richard Branson’s private retreat in the Virgin Isles, to brainstorm
the Elders concept. They included leading figures from the world of internet
technology Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia; Larry Page and Sergey
Brin, the founders of Google; Steve Case, the chairman of AOL
representatives of global think tanks and philanthropic trusts. Also present
were Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whom Mandela had already indicated he would
like to see as chairman of the Elders, and ex-president Jimmy Carter a key
name on Mandela’s list.
Over the course of several days, in meetings conducted around the
dining-table in Branson’s home, and more informally on blankets and chairs
on the beach, the participants roamed far and wide over what the Elders
should be doing and, more importantly, what they could realistically achieve
that other organisations notably the UN could not. Should they be
seeking to make personal interventions in crisis management and conflict
resolution? Should they function as a sophisticated global intelligence
resource, a repository of expertise and intelligence for tackling global
pandemics?
Should they be seeking to make personal interventions in crisis management
and conflict resolution? Should they function as a sophisticated global
intelligence resource, a repository of expertise and intelligence for
tackling global pandemics?
An advocacy group drawing attention to problems overlooked by the world’s
governments and media, with an unrivalled capacity to focus global attention
on a problem and project whatever message they chose? Archbishop Tutu
stressed that he would see one of the fundamental roles of the group to act
as a living example of the truth that 'human beings are made for goodness’.
It is not the militarily powerful or even the economically prosperous that
are held in universally high regard, he said, but the peacemakers and the
humanitarians, 'the ones who make people feel good about being human’.
'In South Africa we speak of Ubuntu, meaning we are not in isolation: I need
you in order to be me… we exist in a delicate network of interdependence.
And a part of what the Elders ought to be seeking to do is reminding people
that you are fundamentally good, and that the aberrations are the bad. Why
we are appalled by what is happening in Darfur, in Burma, or Zimbabwe is
precisely because we are saying, “That’s not the norm.” One of the hopes for
the world is precisely the fact that people are outraged by such
ghastliness.’
Jimmy Carter had agreed to come to Necker purely in an exploratory capacity,
reluctant to commit himself to the idea of the Elders. Addressing the group
on the first day, he expressed his reservations, talking of the disparity
between 'a dream of peace, love and sharing and caring’ and an organisation
that could deliver the practical solutions to problems 'the mundane thing
of building a latrine, or putting a tablet in someone’s mouth, or putting up
a [mosquito] screen. Bridging that wide chasm between dreams and
practicalities, 'takes money and organisation,’ Carter pointed out.
But as the discussions went on, so his enthusiasm began to grow. If the
Elders could evolve into a stature of global acceptance and respect, he
said, it would be very difficult for others to reject their influence; their
independence, lack of any agenda, and their global reputations as honest
brokers would give them entree with individuals that might be denied to
other organisations, and even governments, enabling them to exert influence
in a way that even the UN could not do. What leader could resist an
invitation to meet such a group?
'Even in the most controversial issues, the Elders could make themselves
felt. Even though people on both sides may say they don’t want
interference.’ The Elders, Carter suggested, might function as a first court
of appeal in conflict resolution, 'a place where people can say as a first
response, why don’t I go to the Elders to help prevent this war?’
Their unique position, he went on, would also mean they would be free to
speak with 'pariahs' the 'unsavoury leaders' who may be the real cause of
the problem but are never included in the discussion of the solution. 'This
group would have the collective stature to overcome the stigma of dealing
with people whom the world may be condemning.'
But the potential for the group, he said, was limitless. 'We’re talking
about alleviating suffering in the third world, women’s rights, the
protection of human rights, dealing with diseases, the environment. I think
the last thing this group wants to do is put any kind of limit on what they
might address.’ After three days of meetings, Carter’s scepticism had given
way to commitment. He left Necker indicating that if he were invited to
become an Elder he would accept. The Elders, he said, could be 'the
conscience to the world’.
For Peter Gabriel, one of the most exciting things about the Elders
initiative is the opportunity presented by new technology for what he
describes as 'user-generated politics’ to bypass the obstacles that exist in
conventional political processes.
'All of the Elders individually have said that one of the main roles they
would like to take is to listen,’ Gabriel says. 'And if we can provide a
bridge between people at the bottom and those, if you like, in the clouds at
the top that have the influence to do something, then the potential is
enormous. If the right is open to everybody, whether they’re in Darfur or
Iran or wherever, to have their stories told in an environment where they
can be drawn to the attention of the Elders, then you have the possibility
to tickle existing political systems in ways that could only help encourage
change. It’s crazy to get too ambitious about what the Elders might achieve;
but I think a phone call from that group would be very hard to ignore if
you’re a world leader.’
The Elders will not be in the business of executing on-the-ground
programmes; but in time, Gabriel says, the Elders’ website will create a
global community, providing a platform for humanitarian projects,
highlighting technological innovation and fostering on-line skills
mentoring. 'We have this amazing resource of the retired community our own
elders which is so untapped; we push them into homes or off to the
seaside, and they have a lifetime of experience to use. In sub-Saharan
Africa alone there are 12 million children without parents because of Aids
who could connect with mentors one-on-one through the internet. This kind of
revolution could all be harvested under the Elders’ auspices, and that is so
exciting.’
It is anticipated that the Elders will meet at least twice a year at various
locations throughout the world, while remaining in regular contact through
video conferencing. 'We want this to be perceived very much as a global
body, not linked to one continent’, Jean Oelwang says. They will receive no
remuneration, but an extensive support structure is being put in place to
facilitate their work, including an 'intelligence network’ of advisers who
will be available to provide expert counsel and feedback on whatever issues
the Elders choose to tackle, as and when required. A chief executive will be
appointed in the next few months.
The initiative is being funded by a group of founders. As well as Branson
and Gabriel, who are committing their own money to the project, these
include the UN Foundation, which was created in 1998 by Ted Turner with a $1
billion bequest to support UN causes and activities; Humanity United, a
philanthropic organisation started by the eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and
his wife Pam; and the American businessman and philanthropist Raymond
Chambers, the founder of Malaria No More and Millennium Promise. Oelwang
estimates that funding over the next three years will be in the region of
$20 million.
For Kathy Calvin, the executive vice-president and chief operating officer
of the UN Foundation, the attraction of the Elders project as a funder lies
in its potential to tackle intractable problems, especially where major
global institutions can’t do so alone. 'It’s become increasingly clear over
the last few years that multilateral institutions are essential but often
limited by their multiple constituencies,’ she says.
'I think people really feel that politics is blocking our ability to solve
big problems. So it’s a time when a different approach and methodology could
come into play. In a way it’s kind of old-fashioned. It’s relying on
relationships and moral standing and one-to-one quiet negotiation it’s
everything that is increasingly difficult to achieve on the world stage.
Here are people who have no other agenda than to point out what is the right
thing to do. Now it’s a big question whether that can be effective, but why
wouldn’t you at least want to try? I also think that in this world of
YouTube and the internet, the idea of a group of wise people and leaders who
are listeners as well as talkers, and who would give voice to people who are
never otherwise heard, is also very powerful.’
What is most compelling of all, Calvin says, is that the initiative is led
by Nelson Mandela 'The notion that he has one last gift to the world, and
that he would pull together the people he has in this way, is very
inspiring. He has demonstrated a kind of leadership that is based on
listening and consensus which can engage the next generation as well.’
Mandela is now 89 and in fragile health, yet he carries with him an air of
palpable magnetism and authority that rare and deeply affecting
combination of greatness and humility. At the Ulusaba gathering he was last
to take his place at the table. Word had spread of his coming. A crowd of
local villagers, and every member of staff of the lodge, had gathered at the
gate to greet him, his arrival heralded by the sound of ululations and
praise-songs. As he made his way slowly into the room, leaning on Branson’s
arm for support, the gathering rose as one in a round of spontaneous and
prolonged applause his newly found entourage of cooks, maids and drivers,
joyfully ignoring privacy or protocol, crowding in behind him to hear him
speak: the father of the nation with his children.
Talking of the major problems the world faces violent conflict, climate
change, disease Mandela spoke of how the institutions of government are
often tied down by political, economic or geographical constraints, and how
the efforts of a small, dedicated group of leaders 'working objectively and
without any vested personal interest in the outcome’ could help to solve
what often seem like intractable problems.
The Elders, he went on, had the opportunity to be 'a real role model’ for
the world, leading, guiding, creating their own initiatives and supporting
others, speaking 'freely and boldly’, and working both publicly and behind
the scenes on whatever actions needed to be taken.
Muhammad Yunus had been unable to join the group in South Africa, but that
afternoon he pledged his commitment via satellite link in Bangladesh. Kofi
Annan had also been unable to attend personally, but on the second day he
addressed the gathering via satellite from Sweden. He had not yet formally
committed himself to the project, but over the next 30 minutes as he Graca
Machel, Archbishop Tutu and Carter engaged in a conversation about African
politics that made one vividly aware of just how potent the Elders’ armoury
of experience and personal connections could be, Annan’s enthusiasm was
palpably evident.
At the end of the conversation, Archbishop Tutu addressed him. 'So, Kofi,
can I take it you are with us?’ Annan answered him with a broad smile: 'I am
with you,’ and the room rose in a round of thunderous applause.
Elders will serve a three-year term, with the potential to extend. They will
also be overseeing the setting up of supporting groups of 'grassroots'
Elders around the world to be drawn from the existing databank of 300
names and from recommendations from the public through the internet.
'Mandela and Graca have said they want to have an open global debate about
who else should join the Elders,' Branson says. 'The final choice will be
theirs, and will have credibility for that reason. And Mandela will also be
getting Nobel Peace laureates to vet his list. The important thing is not to
rush and choose the wrong people.' A small number of prominent figures will
also be invited to become 'Ambassadors' to the Elders, championing their
work. Oprah Winfrey has agreed to become the first of these.
In mapping out a strategy at Ulusaba, it was agreed that the Elders would
begin by concentrating on just one or two initiatives at least one in the
area of conflict resolution. But they are likely to be undertaken without
fanfare or announcement. Indeed, Branson says, he expects much of the
Elders’ work to be done behind the scenes. 'Some times they will have to go
public, but generally the feeling is that it would be much better, and more
effective, to do things quietly. There will always be that threat that if
people don’t sort things out then the Elders can go public. But once you
lose that threat then you’ve lost your ammunition.’
Another item high on the agenda was the criticism that the initiative will
almost inevitably receive. 'People will ask, who are these self-appointed
"saviours",' Mandela cautioned the group. But the Elders, he said, should
'reach out to those detractors, convert them to this way of thinking'.
Branson is aware that one of the more likely targets for media scepticism
will be his own involvement. As much as he is admired by the public (in a
BBC poll in 2005 to find the person most people would like to lead a global
government, Branson came ninth Mandela topped the list) there have always
been sections of the media quick to accuse him of publicity-seeking.
'But there’s a simple answer to that sort of criticism’, Scilla Elworthy
says. 'Does anybody honestly think people like Nelson Mandela, Archbishop
Tutu and Jimmy Carter would get involved in this if they thought it was a
businessman’s ego trip? There have been various global leadership
initiatives in the past, but the big difference with this is that you have
the combination of wisdom and resources to make it more than just a
talking-shop. It has a real dynamism because it has Richard’s
entrepreneurial muscle behind it. It won’t stop at wise declarations; it
will actually put them into action.’
'There is cynicism about anything that happens in life,’ Branson says, 'but
I’ve never thought that should stop you doing things. I see myself as a
catalyst, and it’s very important that it’s no more than that. The job of
Peter and myself is simply to help Nelson Mandela put this in place, make
sure there is a fantastic team to back up the Elders, and then to step back.
'Mandela and Graca are both the most special people, and for them to be
engaged in something like this is equally special. Even if the Elders do
only one positive thing, that would justify their existence, but I’m sure
that in the years and decades to come they’ll be able to do many good
things. The world is crying out for more Nelson Mandelas and it would be
wonderful if the Elders could become part of his legacy and live on through
future generations.’
'We must give people the sense that solutions to the world’s problems are
possible; that things might look intractable but it is our duty to believe
that goodness and right will prevail,’ Archbishop Tutu says. 'But at the
same time everyone is aware of the dangers of raising expectations too
high.’
Buried in the briefing documents outlining the putative objectives of the
Elders and their possible strategies, lies a cautionary note about what the
Elders will not do, '… solve all the world’s problems…’ It is intended in a
light-hearted way. Who after all would realistically expect them to? But it
does raise the question if they can’t, who can?
21/07/2007
Copyright Telegraph Media Group Limited
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/07/21/sm_globaleld
ers21.xml
crisis. Could a group of universally respected figures bring those same
qualities of leadership and wisdom to bear on the global village? Just such
an initiative has been launched by Nelson Mandela. In an exclusive report,
Mick Brown charts the development of the Global Elders
On a cool South African autumn day in May, an extraordinary group of people
assembled around a table in the great room at Ulusaba, the private game
reserve owned by Sir Richard Branson. Among them were Nelson Mandela and his
wife Graca Machel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the former American president
Jimmy Carter, and the former president of Ireland and chair of the United
Nations Human Rights Commission, Mary Robinson.
This was the first gathering of the Global Elders the initiative created
by Mandela, and formally announced by him in Johannesburg this week.
Ulusaba is one of the most luxurious private game reserves in Africa. Set in
13,500 hectares on the edge of the Kruger National Park, it was opened by
Branson in 1989. Guests normally pay up to ￡1,000 a night to stay there, but
for five days the lodge was closed to business as the gathering deliberated
on what the Elders might achieve, and how they should present themselves to
the world. Around the table, the core group and a circle of advisers
including the Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, the English
parliamentarian Tony Benn and CS Kiang, founder of the College of
Environmental Studies at Beijing University, listened to briefings from
analysts and experts on a range of topics from Darfur to nuclear
proliferation.
On one evening, as the gathering dined outside on the terrace, bandaged
against the autumnal chill in borrowed fleeces and ponchos, they were
addressed on the situation in Gaza by Yasser Abd Rabbo, a member of the
PLO’s executive committee, widely recognised as a Palestinian 'dove’, and
the Israeli peace activist and former justice minister Yossi Beilin, both
instrumental in the Geneva Peace Accord. On another, they were entertained
by a spontaneous performance by the musician Peter Gabriel, singing his
composition, Biko, about the ANC activist Steve Biko, whose murder in police
custody in 1977 made him a martyr of the anti-apartheid movement.
As well as those gathered around the table in May, the group that Nelson
Mandela announced this week will also comprise the former Secretary General
of the UN Kofi Annan; Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist and
so-called 'banker to the poor’, who devised the idea of microcredit the
extension of small loans to people too poor to qualify for bank loans; Li
Zhaoxing, the former Foreign Minister of China; Ela Bhatt, the Indian
women’s activist and founder of SEWA, the Self Employed Women’s Association;
and Gro Harlen Bruntland, the former prime minister of Norway and director
of the World Health Organisation. Five of the group are Nobel Peace
laureates.
Two more names will be added in the coming months to bring the total to 12.
And an invitation has also been extended to Aung San Suu Kyi, the
democratically elected leader of Burma, who has spent much of the past 18
years detained under house arrest by the military junta that governs the
country; a chair will be kept empty at all Elders meetings until such time
as she is able to occupy it.
So what exactly are the Global Elders? A self-elected 'dream team’ for
putative world government? An alternative to an increasingly divisive and
moribund United Nations? The mission statement that accompanied this week’s
announcement couches their objectives in deliberately moderate language.
'The Elders,’ it states, 'are coming together to contribute wisdom,
independent leadership and moral courage to tackle some of the world’s most
serious problems.’ It is said that they will seek to use their influence and
experience to 'persuade and facilitate’ action on a broad range of issues,
making themselves available to act as 'honest brokers’ in conflict
resolution, serving as a 'megaphone’ to amplify the volume on crisis
situations such as diminishing natural resources, Aids and malaria, and act
as an independent voice of reason and wisdom on the shoulder of governments
and other organisations.
What they will not do is execute on-the-ground programmes, or duplicate work
being performed by the UN and other organisations. They will have no
legislative or political power, no armies at their disposal, and no
billion-dollar budgets. In short, they will be a test of how effective the
weapons of wisdom, independence and moral authority can be to leverage
global change.
For Branson and Gabriel, the gathering at Ulusuba held a particular
sweetness the culmination of a dream they have been nurturing for the past
eight years. The pair have been good friends for many years, but it was in
1999 when they first began to talk in theoretical terms about how the
tradition in indigenous cultures of tribal elders serving as the repository
of wisdom, judgement and long-term thinking might be applied in the global
village. The premise that Branson and Gabriel thrashed out was deceptively
simple there are any number of organisations and institutions, from the UN
down, dedicated to solving the world’s myriad problems, but there is no
single group that is totally independent, deriving its authority not from
political, economic, military or religious power but from wisdom and
experience. What might such a group achieve?
Each saw the possibilities in a different way. Branson envisaged a group of
globally respected individuals who could use their influence to mobilise
resources to combat the pandemics of Aids or malaria, and to prevent and
resolve global conflicts. 'A group of Elders might be able to look at
situations slightly differently than the United Nations does, or individual
governments with their own vested interests do,’ he says. 'I know as a
businessman that sometimes if you think you’re slightly ahead of the game,
you become wedded to your position, and you may need someone to come in and
help you save face in a climb-down position. There are occasions where both
sides have got themselves into an impossible situation and it requires a
completely disinterested party to see how they can extricate themselves from
that.’
Gabriel saw it rather differently. A long-time supporter of human rights
causes, he founded Witness, a grassroots organisation that puts cameras and
video equipment into the hands of ordinary people to record human rights
abuses around the world a 'YouTube for human rights’, as he puts it. He
envisaged a globally elected council of the wise, using the internet and
mobile-phone technology to respond to grassroots problems in a way
governments are unable to do. Both agreed only one man could ever bring such
a project to fruition: Nelson Mandela.
'To me, and I think most others, there is nobody who epitomises a
universally acclaimed moral authority more than Nelson Mandela,’ Branson
says. 'Here was somebody who by rights ought to have been consumed by
bitterness after years in prison, but he forgave his captors and welcomed
them into government; he prevented a whole nation going down the precipice
into conflagration. He’s a wonderful example to everyone.’ Through his
philanthropic interests in South Africa, Branson had come to know Mandela
well.
In autumn 2001, he was entertaining Mandela at his Holland Park home.
Gabriel joined them, and over lunch he and Branson gently floated their idea
of the Elders. Mandela’s response was guarded: the UN, he said, might look
askance at a self-elected group presuming to step on their territory. But he
could see the value of the idea. He remembered how in his mediations between
the Tutsis and the Hutus both sides had said it was as if they were talking
to a father advising them, rather than to someone with an agenda of his own.
'I think the success of that made Mandela see how 12 figures such as himself
could be 12 times as powerful in certain situations,’ Branson says. Mandela
told them he would give the idea serious thought.
Branson says he has never been interested in running for political or public
office, but nor has he been shy of using his influence and resources in the
service of causes he believes in. In 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait leading
to the first Gulf War, at the request of his friend the late King Hussein of
Jordan, Branson used Virgin aircraft to airlift supplies to refugees fleeing
into Jordan and later mounted a mercy flight to bring home British citizens
held hostage by Saddam Hussein.
In recent years, his growing friendships with Mandela, Bill Clinton and Al
Gore have encouraged him to deepen his interest in the possibilities of what
he describes as socially responsible entrepreneurialism. Last year he
pledged to commit all the profits from his transportation businesses over
the next 10 years estimated at $3 billion to Clinton’s global initiative
to develop clean fuels. He has also offered a prize of $25 million of his
own money to anyone who can devise a way of taking damaging carbon emissions
from the atmosphere.
Branson has never been afraid to think big, or been deflected by obstacles
others might regard as insurmountable. But nothing rivals in audacity his
attempt unilaterally to avert the Gulf War in 2003. As America was preparing
to invade Iraq, Branson, through intermediaries, explored the possibility of
Saddam Hussein being assured of safe haven in Libya. He then approached
Mandela asking if he would be prepared to fly to Iraq to persuade Saddam to
step down. Mandela said he would if Kofi Annan, then Secretary General of
the United Nations, and South Africa’s President Tabo Mbeki agreed to the
plan. Branson sought, and was given, both their blessings. But before
Mandela could board a private plane to fly from Johannesburg to Baghdad,
America invaded. 'It may have come to nothing anyway,’ Branson says, 'but it
was an example of a universally respected, individual elder, working outside
the conventional political process, who might have made a difference.’
A few months later, in November 2003, Branson and Gabriel were both in South
Africa for an all-star concert to launch Mandela’s 46664 Aids charity [46664
was Mandela’s prisoner number on Robben Island] which they had organised
with the musician Dave Stewart. Afterwards, at Mandela’s home, they again
broached the idea of a council of global Elders, asking whether Mandela and
his wife Graca Machel would lead such a project and become the founding
Elders. Warming to the idea, Mandela asked Branson to research the
logistical feasibilities.
Branson now set up a team, led by Jean Oelwang, the chief executive of
Virgin Unite, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group, with the
objective of defining what a council of Elders would look like, what it
might do and, as Oelwang says, 'bringing together the collective wisdom of
some of the world’s most remarkable leaders with no other agenda but that of
humanity.’
The first question was the most difficult: who should the Elders be? The
number of figures who command not only universal recognition but universal
respect can be counted on the fingers of one hand. How do you arrive at a
group of 12 the number had been decided by an unspoken consensus that
would equitably represent gender, ethnicity and cultural pluralism?
Mandela had already outlined a handful of names that he would like to join
him; to research further candidates, Oelwang recruited Scilla Elworthy. She
is the founder of the Oxford Research Group, which she established in 1982
to study global security issues and develop dialogue between nuclear-weapons
policy makers and their critics. She is also the founder of Peace Direct, a
grassroots organisation devoted to developing conflict resolution skills,
and has herself been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Over the next 18 months, Elworthy consulted government figures, diplomats,
civic leaders and Nobel Peace Prize winners throughout the world, assembling
a long-list of individuals for consideration as possible Elders. At this
point it was felt expedient to reveal as little of the project as possible.
In her canvassing of names, Elworthy referred to the project simply as an
initiative to influence decision-making on global issues.
'We felt we shouldn’t use Nelson Mandela’s name we didn’t want it to get
into the press in the wrong way. We simply said this was going to be
something at the highest level, led by absolutely impeccable names with
global moral authority. And it wasn’t going to be just a talking shop; it
was going to be about direct action.’ 0
Through a process of discussion and elimination, a set of criteria began to
emerge for prospective Elders. The first, and most important, was that they
should not be currently involved in politics; they should have no personal
agenda, vested interest or bias. They should have earned international
trust, demonstrated outstanding integrity and built a reputation for
non-coercive leadership.
'It was important to find people who had displayed moral courage,’ Elworthy
says. 'In other words, they had been in some situation that had demanded
them to stand up against oppressive forces, dictatorship or whatever.’ Aung
San Suu Kyi is an outstanding example, she says.
'Secondly, they should have made a real difference to very large numbers of
people in some way that had dramatically changed their lives.’ Muhammad
Yunus was a good example. 'Here is somebody who has devised a replicable and
massively important technique for lifting people out of poverty, surmounted
all the difficulties and actually made it work,’ Elworthy says.
'Another criterion is the demonstration that they can move beyond their own
fear in a significant way. Nelson Mandela would be the obvious example
there, having put up with 27 years of incarceration and facing fear daily in
the early days. Then there’s the ability to listen, which everybody involved
in this considers terribly important. And the last thing was the realisation
that all the truly great people have a sense of humour. Archbishop Tutu
absolutely epitomises that. It wasn’t a criterion, but it emerged as a
common characteristic.’
By the end of the process, Elworthy had drawn up a biographical databank of
more than 300 people human rights activists, scientists, economists,
philosophers, spiritual and tribal leaders, social visionaries, specialists
in health care, education and environmental issues drawn from almost every
corner and culture of the world. In time, this would be filtered down yet
further to just 30 names, including a clutch of former presidents and prime
ministers, an internationally acclaimed author and four renowned religious
and spiritual leaders. Six of the 30 were Nobel Peace Prize winners.
In August 2006 a remarkable assortment of individuals gathered on Necker
Island, Richard Branson’s private retreat in the Virgin Isles, to brainstorm
the Elders concept. They included leading figures from the world of internet
technology Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia; Larry Page and Sergey
Brin, the founders of Google; Steve Case, the chairman of AOL
representatives of global think tanks and philanthropic trusts. Also present
were Archbishop Desmond Tutu, whom Mandela had already indicated he would
like to see as chairman of the Elders, and ex-president Jimmy Carter a key
name on Mandela’s list.
Over the course of several days, in meetings conducted around the
dining-table in Branson’s home, and more informally on blankets and chairs
on the beach, the participants roamed far and wide over what the Elders
should be doing and, more importantly, what they could realistically achieve
that other organisations notably the UN could not. Should they be
seeking to make personal interventions in crisis management and conflict
resolution? Should they function as a sophisticated global intelligence
resource, a repository of expertise and intelligence for tackling global
pandemics?
Should they be seeking to make personal interventions in crisis management
and conflict resolution? Should they function as a sophisticated global
intelligence resource, a repository of expertise and intelligence for
tackling global pandemics?
An advocacy group drawing attention to problems overlooked by the world’s
governments and media, with an unrivalled capacity to focus global attention
on a problem and project whatever message they chose? Archbishop Tutu
stressed that he would see one of the fundamental roles of the group to act
as a living example of the truth that 'human beings are made for goodness’.
It is not the militarily powerful or even the economically prosperous that
are held in universally high regard, he said, but the peacemakers and the
humanitarians, 'the ones who make people feel good about being human’.
'In South Africa we speak of Ubuntu, meaning we are not in isolation: I need
you in order to be me… we exist in a delicate network of interdependence.
And a part of what the Elders ought to be seeking to do is reminding people
that you are fundamentally good, and that the aberrations are the bad. Why
we are appalled by what is happening in Darfur, in Burma, or Zimbabwe is
precisely because we are saying, “That’s not the norm.” One of the hopes for
the world is precisely the fact that people are outraged by such
ghastliness.’
Jimmy Carter had agreed to come to Necker purely in an exploratory capacity,
reluctant to commit himself to the idea of the Elders. Addressing the group
on the first day, he expressed his reservations, talking of the disparity
between 'a dream of peace, love and sharing and caring’ and an organisation
that could deliver the practical solutions to problems 'the mundane thing
of building a latrine, or putting a tablet in someone’s mouth, or putting up
a [mosquito] screen. Bridging that wide chasm between dreams and
practicalities, 'takes money and organisation,’ Carter pointed out.
But as the discussions went on, so his enthusiasm began to grow. If the
Elders could evolve into a stature of global acceptance and respect, he
said, it would be very difficult for others to reject their influence; their
independence, lack of any agenda, and their global reputations as honest
brokers would give them entree with individuals that might be denied to
other organisations, and even governments, enabling them to exert influence
in a way that even the UN could not do. What leader could resist an
invitation to meet such a group?
'Even in the most controversial issues, the Elders could make themselves
felt. Even though people on both sides may say they don’t want
interference.’ The Elders, Carter suggested, might function as a first court
of appeal in conflict resolution, 'a place where people can say as a first
response, why don’t I go to the Elders to help prevent this war?’
Their unique position, he went on, would also mean they would be free to
speak with 'pariahs' the 'unsavoury leaders' who may be the real cause of
the problem but are never included in the discussion of the solution. 'This
group would have the collective stature to overcome the stigma of dealing
with people whom the world may be condemning.'
But the potential for the group, he said, was limitless. 'We’re talking
about alleviating suffering in the third world, women’s rights, the
protection of human rights, dealing with diseases, the environment. I think
the last thing this group wants to do is put any kind of limit on what they
might address.’ After three days of meetings, Carter’s scepticism had given
way to commitment. He left Necker indicating that if he were invited to
become an Elder he would accept. The Elders, he said, could be 'the
conscience to the world’.
For Peter Gabriel, one of the most exciting things about the Elders
initiative is the opportunity presented by new technology for what he
describes as 'user-generated politics’ to bypass the obstacles that exist in
conventional political processes.
'All of the Elders individually have said that one of the main roles they
would like to take is to listen,’ Gabriel says. 'And if we can provide a
bridge between people at the bottom and those, if you like, in the clouds at
the top that have the influence to do something, then the potential is
enormous. If the right is open to everybody, whether they’re in Darfur or
Iran or wherever, to have their stories told in an environment where they
can be drawn to the attention of the Elders, then you have the possibility
to tickle existing political systems in ways that could only help encourage
change. It’s crazy to get too ambitious about what the Elders might achieve;
but I think a phone call from that group would be very hard to ignore if
you’re a world leader.’
The Elders will not be in the business of executing on-the-ground
programmes; but in time, Gabriel says, the Elders’ website will create a
global community, providing a platform for humanitarian projects,
highlighting technological innovation and fostering on-line skills
mentoring. 'We have this amazing resource of the retired community our own
elders which is so untapped; we push them into homes or off to the
seaside, and they have a lifetime of experience to use. In sub-Saharan
Africa alone there are 12 million children without parents because of Aids
who could connect with mentors one-on-one through the internet. This kind of
revolution could all be harvested under the Elders’ auspices, and that is so
exciting.’
It is anticipated that the Elders will meet at least twice a year at various
locations throughout the world, while remaining in regular contact through
video conferencing. 'We want this to be perceived very much as a global
body, not linked to one continent’, Jean Oelwang says. They will receive no
remuneration, but an extensive support structure is being put in place to
facilitate their work, including an 'intelligence network’ of advisers who
will be available to provide expert counsel and feedback on whatever issues
the Elders choose to tackle, as and when required. A chief executive will be
appointed in the next few months.
The initiative is being funded by a group of founders. As well as Branson
and Gabriel, who are committing their own money to the project, these
include the UN Foundation, which was created in 1998 by Ted Turner with a $1
billion bequest to support UN causes and activities; Humanity United, a
philanthropic organisation started by the eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and
his wife Pam; and the American businessman and philanthropist Raymond
Chambers, the founder of Malaria No More and Millennium Promise. Oelwang
estimates that funding over the next three years will be in the region of
$20 million.
For Kathy Calvin, the executive vice-president and chief operating officer
of the UN Foundation, the attraction of the Elders project as a funder lies
in its potential to tackle intractable problems, especially where major
global institutions can’t do so alone. 'It’s become increasingly clear over
the last few years that multilateral institutions are essential but often
limited by their multiple constituencies,’ she says.
'I think people really feel that politics is blocking our ability to solve
big problems. So it’s a time when a different approach and methodology could
come into play. In a way it’s kind of old-fashioned. It’s relying on
relationships and moral standing and one-to-one quiet negotiation it’s
everything that is increasingly difficult to achieve on the world stage.
Here are people who have no other agenda than to point out what is the right
thing to do. Now it’s a big question whether that can be effective, but why
wouldn’t you at least want to try? I also think that in this world of
YouTube and the internet, the idea of a group of wise people and leaders who
are listeners as well as talkers, and who would give voice to people who are
never otherwise heard, is also very powerful.’
What is most compelling of all, Calvin says, is that the initiative is led
by Nelson Mandela 'The notion that he has one last gift to the world, and
that he would pull together the people he has in this way, is very
inspiring. He has demonstrated a kind of leadership that is based on
listening and consensus which can engage the next generation as well.’
Mandela is now 89 and in fragile health, yet he carries with him an air of
palpable magnetism and authority that rare and deeply affecting
combination of greatness and humility. At the Ulusaba gathering he was last
to take his place at the table. Word had spread of his coming. A crowd of
local villagers, and every member of staff of the lodge, had gathered at the
gate to greet him, his arrival heralded by the sound of ululations and
praise-songs. As he made his way slowly into the room, leaning on Branson’s
arm for support, the gathering rose as one in a round of spontaneous and
prolonged applause his newly found entourage of cooks, maids and drivers,
joyfully ignoring privacy or protocol, crowding in behind him to hear him
speak: the father of the nation with his children.
Talking of the major problems the world faces violent conflict, climate
change, disease Mandela spoke of how the institutions of government are
often tied down by political, economic or geographical constraints, and how
the efforts of a small, dedicated group of leaders 'working objectively and
without any vested personal interest in the outcome’ could help to solve
what often seem like intractable problems.
The Elders, he went on, had the opportunity to be 'a real role model’ for
the world, leading, guiding, creating their own initiatives and supporting
others, speaking 'freely and boldly’, and working both publicly and behind
the scenes on whatever actions needed to be taken.
Muhammad Yunus had been unable to join the group in South Africa, but that
afternoon he pledged his commitment via satellite link in Bangladesh. Kofi
Annan had also been unable to attend personally, but on the second day he
addressed the gathering via satellite from Sweden. He had not yet formally
committed himself to the project, but over the next 30 minutes as he Graca
Machel, Archbishop Tutu and Carter engaged in a conversation about African
politics that made one vividly aware of just how potent the Elders’ armoury
of experience and personal connections could be, Annan’s enthusiasm was
palpably evident.
At the end of the conversation, Archbishop Tutu addressed him. 'So, Kofi,
can I take it you are with us?’ Annan answered him with a broad smile: 'I am
with you,’ and the room rose in a round of thunderous applause.
Elders will serve a three-year term, with the potential to extend. They will
also be overseeing the setting up of supporting groups of 'grassroots'
Elders around the world to be drawn from the existing databank of 300
names and from recommendations from the public through the internet.
'Mandela and Graca have said they want to have an open global debate about
who else should join the Elders,' Branson says. 'The final choice will be
theirs, and will have credibility for that reason. And Mandela will also be
getting Nobel Peace laureates to vet his list. The important thing is not to
rush and choose the wrong people.' A small number of prominent figures will
also be invited to become 'Ambassadors' to the Elders, championing their
work. Oprah Winfrey has agreed to become the first of these.
In mapping out a strategy at Ulusaba, it was agreed that the Elders would
begin by concentrating on just one or two initiatives at least one in the
area of conflict resolution. But they are likely to be undertaken without
fanfare or announcement. Indeed, Branson says, he expects much of the
Elders’ work to be done behind the scenes. 'Some times they will have to go
public, but generally the feeling is that it would be much better, and more
effective, to do things quietly. There will always be that threat that if
people don’t sort things out then the Elders can go public. But once you
lose that threat then you’ve lost your ammunition.’
Another item high on the agenda was the criticism that the initiative will
almost inevitably receive. 'People will ask, who are these self-appointed
"saviours",' Mandela cautioned the group. But the Elders, he said, should
'reach out to those detractors, convert them to this way of thinking'.
Branson is aware that one of the more likely targets for media scepticism
will be his own involvement. As much as he is admired by the public (in a
BBC poll in 2005 to find the person most people would like to lead a global
government, Branson came ninth Mandela topped the list) there have always
been sections of the media quick to accuse him of publicity-seeking.
'But there’s a simple answer to that sort of criticism’, Scilla Elworthy
says. 'Does anybody honestly think people like Nelson Mandela, Archbishop
Tutu and Jimmy Carter would get involved in this if they thought it was a
businessman’s ego trip? There have been various global leadership
initiatives in the past, but the big difference with this is that you have
the combination of wisdom and resources to make it more than just a
talking-shop. It has a real dynamism because it has Richard’s
entrepreneurial muscle behind it. It won’t stop at wise declarations; it
will actually put them into action.’
'There is cynicism about anything that happens in life,’ Branson says, 'but
I’ve never thought that should stop you doing things. I see myself as a
catalyst, and it’s very important that it’s no more than that. The job of
Peter and myself is simply to help Nelson Mandela put this in place, make
sure there is a fantastic team to back up the Elders, and then to step back.
'Mandela and Graca are both the most special people, and for them to be
engaged in something like this is equally special. Even if the Elders do
only one positive thing, that would justify their existence, but I’m sure
that in the years and decades to come they’ll be able to do many good
things. The world is crying out for more Nelson Mandelas and it would be
wonderful if the Elders could become part of his legacy and live on through
future generations.’
'We must give people the sense that solutions to the world’s problems are
possible; that things might look intractable but it is our duty to believe
that goodness and right will prevail,’ Archbishop Tutu says. 'But at the
same time everyone is aware of the dangers of raising expectations too
high.’
Buried in the briefing documents outlining the putative objectives of the
Elders and their possible strategies, lies a cautionary note about what the
Elders will not do, '… solve all the world’s problems…’ It is intended in a
light-hearted way. Who after all would realistically expect them to? But it
does raise the question if they can’t, who can?
21/07/2007
Copyright Telegraph Media Group Limited
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/07/21/sm_globaleld
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