The Elders, a group founded in 2007, is made up of a dozen former world leaders working behind the scenes and in plain sight to stem the spread of conflicts, poverty and human rights issues. The organization started as an idea by musician Peter Gabriel.
Gabriel shared his idea with entrepreneur Richard Branson back in 1999 with the thought of forming a group that could work in much the same way as respected elders of an African village, sharing wisdom and solutions with a community that could be moved to positive outcomes.
The founding roster for "The Elders" includes:
• Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa
• Graca Machel, former first lady of Mozambique, activist for women's and children's rights, and Mandela's wife
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa
• Jimmy Carter, former U.S. president responsible for the 1978 Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt
• Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
• Lakhdar Brahimi, former Algerian diplomat
• Muhammad Yunus, economist and founder of the Grameen Bank
• Fernando Cardoso, former president of Brazil
• Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations
• Aung San Suu Kyi, pro-democracy activist and the prime minister-elect of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), unrecognized winner of the 1990 Burma election
• Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association, a trade union with more than 1 million members in India
• Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and former director general of the World Health Organization
Members of the Elders have traveled to Kenya, Sudan, Cyprus and most recently to South Africa to evaluate the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and attempt to reach resolution through unconventional means.
Several of the founding members of the Elders are recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.
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