The Elders: Mandela’s club of world leaders
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, July 27: On the eve of his 89th birthday, Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa and an anti-apartheid activist, announced the formation of The Elders — a club of world leaders to discuss ways to tackle problems plaguing the world.
Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), is one of the twelve members in this exclusive club.
Though Bhatt could not attend the first meeting of The Elders in Johannesburg on July 18, she is optimistic that the club will be able to identify issues and rethink strategies of governance and policy.
“The Elders have to find a commonly shared objective — common ground, which is relevant and imminent to our lives in the global village,” Bhatt said.
In her view, inclusive development and climate change are the two significant challenges, faced by the world today.
“India’s independence has not been able to ensure freedom to its citizens. The development of a country is measured in terms of its GDP, income and growth, while human development is ignored. The Elders will share their experience and advise the youth to address the most imminent challenges,” Bhatt added.
The other members include Graca Machel, a social and political activist for women’s rights and wife of Nelson Mandela, Li Zhaoxing, the President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs, former Irish President Mary Robinson, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Norwegian politician and diplomat Gro Harlem Brundtland and Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus and Jimmy Carter.
Bhatt has known many of the members personally and has, on various occasions, shared her visions and thoughts with them.
Bhatt, who is credited with the development of micro finance in India, and Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Prize last year for initiating social and economic development in Bangladesh through micro finance, had also founded an organisation called Consultative Group to Assist the Poor.
Source: Indian Express