An Evening with the Elders

One of the many things I love about Oxford is that there is always a plethora of fascinating lectures and discussion to attend.  Tonight we were lucky enough to attend an Evening with the Elders held in the Sheldonian Theatre

The Elders in attendance were Kofi Annan, Former Secretary General of the United Nations;  Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, Hina Jilani, International Human Rights Defender from Pakistan, and Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States.

The moderator was Dr. Farhan Nizami, Director of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies

 The discussion was entitled: Conflict, Dialogue and Peace: Speaking Truth to Power.  I was so impressed with how articulate and brilliant each of the speakers were, especially Mary Robinson and Jimmy Carter.

The Elders are a group of independent leaders, brought together by the late Nelson Mandela in 2007, who use their collective experience and influence for peace and human rights worldwide. 

Across the theatre from where we were sitting was a familiar face -- Sir Richard Branson

Since 2007, the Elders have worked to help build peace and heal divisions in the Ivory Coast, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel and Palestine, the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Sudan and South Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe. They also work to address the impact of climate change, encourage sustainable development, the equality of girls and women, and ending child marriages.


The evening was a fascinating question and answer session with thought provoking and challenging questions asked by members of the audience. It was an evening of hope and at times discouragement, of inspiration and leadership by example.

My favorite quotes from the evening:

Hina Jilani: "We don't just want to preserve Nelson Mandela's vision of peace and justice, we want to expand it."

President Carter: "Even a small group of proactive students can have a huge impact on society. Though maybe not on U.S. Congress."

Kofi Annan: "We all believe in the Universal Declaration of HumanRights. And even if we don't, we all want it applied to us!"

President Carter: "It worries me that the ethnic origins of current prisoners in US reflect our socio-economic inequalities."

President Carter: "The number of prisoners today in the US is 5 times higher than at the end of my presidency."

President Carter: "Money has become more important than people."