WHAT HAPPENED?

Nelson Mandela's birthday (July 18th) was recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2009, as Nelson Mandela International Day.

The Mandela Bridges World E-Summit is an Ubuntu Global Network´s tribute to Mandela the  humanist, the defender of Human Rights, the promoter of reconciliation between peoples, the builder of bridges.

World e-Summit to celebrate Mandela's legacy.
2pm-7pm [UTC/GMT+1]
A symbolic gesture of renaming bridges around the world as "Mandela Bridge", for one day.
This Ubuntu Declaration "One human family" has been presented and adopted, being signed by all those who identify with it.

"MANDELA BRIDGES WORLD E-SUMMIT" PROGRAM (UTC/GMT+1)

2:00 pm - Welcome/Opening session
  • Rui Marques (President and Founder of IPAV / Ubuntu Leaders Academy)
  • José Ramos-Horta (Former President of East Timor and co-Chair MBWS)
  • John Volmink (President of the Ubuntu Global Network and co-Chair MBWS)
  • Ndaba Mandela (Mandela Institute for Humanity) 
0
Participants
0
Countries
0
Speakers
0
Languages

SPEAKERS

(under development)

World E-Summit co-Chairs

John Volmink
John VolminkPresident of the Ubuntu Global Network and co-Chair Mandela Bridges World E-Summit
South Africa
John Volmink started his academic career at the University of the Western Cape and completed his doctorate in Mathematics Education at Cornell University, Ithaca NY, USA, in 1988.

He is currently the President of MIET Africa and continues to lead the boards of several non-governmental organizations for the development of areas of education, health and development.
José Ramos-Horta
José Ramos-HortaFormer President of East Timor and co-Chair Mandela Bridges World E-Summit; Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1996
East Timor
José Manuel Ramos-Horta is Timorese, president of his country from 2007 to 2012. He was the spokesman for the Timorese resistance in exile during the Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999 and the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of Timor-Leste since his independence in 2002.

In December 1996, José Ramos-Horta shared the Nobel Peace Prize with fellow Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.

Welcome/Opening session

Ndaba Mandela
Ndaba MandelaMandela Institute for Humanity
South Africa
Leader of the Africa Rising Foundation, grandson of Nelson Mandela, considered his worthy successor and spokesman for the immaterial legacy left by his grandfather. He was born on 23 December 1982 in Soweto, South Africa. 

He is an author, mentor, spokesman, businessman and political advisor, in addition to being recognized for keeping his grandfather's legacy alive and introducing Nelson Mandela to younger generations. 

He is a member of the Pan-African Youth Council, which works closely with the African Union, and is the oldest world ambassador of UNAIDS, a specialized United Nations agency that campaigns on HIV/AIDS awareness. He is considered one of the twenty-eight most influential men in Africa and a leader of change among the young with his active and intervening stance. 

In Portugal he is a member of the Advisory Board and International Ambassador of the Association Patrulheiros. Godfather and Ambassador of Madiba Forest, in Bussaco forest, Mealhada, a unique facility in the world. 

Mandela´s Legacy and contemporary challenges

Muhammad Yunus
Muhammad Yunus Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2006
Bangladesh
Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus is the father of both social business and microcredit, the founder of Grameen Bank, and of more than 50 other companies in Bangladesh. For his constant innovation and enterprise, the Fortune Magazine named Professor Yunus in March 2012 as “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time.”
In 2006, Professor Yunus and Grameen Bank were jointly awarded Nobel Peace Prize. He is the recipient of 61 honorary degrees from universities across 24 countries. He has received 136 awards from 33 countries including state honours from 10 countries. He is one of only seven individuals to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom and the United States Congressional Gold Medal.
He has appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, Newsweek and Forbes Magazine
Kailash Satyarthi
Kailash SatyarthiNobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014: "100 Million campaign and Justice for Every Child"
India

Kailash Satyarthi is the Founder of Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation - Ending violence against children globally.
Mr. Satyarthi has been a tireless advocate of children’s rights for over three decades.  In 2014, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”
He has been at the forefront of driving child related agendas into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Currently, Mr Satyarthi is spearheading the “100 Million” campaign which aims to inspire and mobilize young people to stand up and act for their own rights and the rights of their peers, and to achieve the world’s biggest youth mobilization to end violence against children, eradicate child labour and ensure education.

Mandela’s Legacy and building bridges

Kerry Kennedy
Kerry KennedyRobert F. Kennedy Human Rights - USA
United States of América
Kerry Kennedy is an American writer and human rights activist. 

She is the seventh daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel and chairs Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, a nonprofit human rights organization and the Amnesty International Leadership Council.
HRH Princess Rym Ali of Jordan
HRH Princess Rym Ali of Jordan
Jordan
Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali of Jordan, a journalist, founded an NGO that aims to establish an Arab center of excellence for journalistic education. She had an extensive carrer in international broadcasters such as CNN, BBC and others. Awarded with several prizes and decorations, she was also distinguished by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with the decoration of the order of Infante D. Henrique for her efforts in the field of cultural and intercultural exchange.
Carlos Moedas
Carlos MoedasFormer EU Commissioner; Board member of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Portugal

Carlos Moedas is a Portuguese civil engineer, economist and politician. He was Assistant Secretary of State between 2011 and 2014.

He was the Portuguese commissioner responsible for the largest ever EU research and innovation framework program, Horizon 2020. He is currently Director of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim
Ameenah Gurib-FakimFormer President of Mauritius
Mauritius
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim ​​is a biodiversity scientist and politician who served as the 6th President of Mauritius from 2015 to 2018.
 

She was the first woman elected president of the country and the third woman to serve as Head of State after Queen Elizabeth II and Monique Ohsan Bellepeau.

In 2019 she was the keynote speaker at the Cambridge University conference "Africa Together: Which Way to Go?".
Mladen Ivanic
Mladen Ivanic Chairman of the Presidency (20016-17; 2014-15); Member of the Presidency (2014-2018)
Bosnia-Herzegovina

Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Srpska. 

He is the President of  the Party of Democratic Progress of Republika Srpska

After the general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2014, he was named a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska and he served in this position until 2018.  

Danilo Turk
Danilo TurkMember of WLA Club de Madrid; Former President of Slovenia;
Slovenia
Danilo Türk is former president of Slovenia. He was elected by popular vote as the third President of Slovenia for the period 2007-2012.

He is currently president of the World Leadership Alliance - Club de Madrid, an organization of one hundred and twelve democratically elected former presidents and prime ministers.
Helen Clark
Helen ClarkFormer Prime Minister of New Zeland
New Zeland

Helen Clark is a New Zealander politician and was Prime Minister of her country from 1999 until 2008.

Graduated in Politics from the University of Auckland, she took power in New Zealand in 1999 as the 37th person to govern the country, being the second woman.

Joyce Banda
Joyce BandaMember of WLA Club de Madrid; Former President of Malawi
Malawi

Joyce Banda became the third woman to lead an African country after Carmen Pereira, president of Guinea-Bissau, and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of Liberia.

Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen Former President of Finland
Finland

Tarja Halonen served two terms as President of Finland from 2000 to 2012. During his presidency, she held several positions as co-chair of the UN High Level Panel on global sustainability and chairman of the Council of Women World Leaders.

She continues to work closely with the UN and is currently a member of the Secretary-General's High Level Advisory Council on Mediation.

Zlatko Lagumdzija
Zlatko Lagumdzija Member of WLA Club de Madrid; Former Prime Minister of Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Born in 1955 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He served in the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina as Prime Minister and Interim Prime Minister and twice as Minister for Foreign Affairs in various periods between 1992 and 2015.
 
He was elected as a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliament six times from 1996 to 2010.
He holds a doctorate in the field of computer science and electrical engineering and a professor of Management and Information Technology at the University of Sarajevo.

Mandela and I

Ismail Serageldin
Ismail SerageldinFounding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina; co-Chair of the NGIC
Egypt

Emeritus librarian, co-president of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center (NGIC) and member of the Board of Directors of the Library of Alexandria. Chairman and member of several advisory committees of academic, research, scientific and international institutions.

He gave extensive conferences around the world, including the Mandela Lecture (Johannesburg, 2011).

Piyushi Kotecha
Piyushi Kotecha CEO of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation
South Africa
Piyushi Kotecha has held various leadership positions, developing policies and linking South African and African universities.

She played critical roles in the Southern African higher education sector. She was CEO of the Association of Vice Chancellors for Universities in South Africa and founder of the Association of Regional Universities in Southern Africa.

She also facilitated high-level leadership dialogues, representing the government in higher education matters.
Noeleen Heyzer
Noeleen Heyzer Former United Nations Under-Secretary General (2007 - 2015)
Singapure

Currently a member of the UN Secretary-General's High Level Advisory Council for Mediation. She was UN Under-Secretary General between 2007 and 2015 and the first female Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

She was the Special Adviser to the UN SG for Timor-Leste.

She received numerous international awards for leadership.

Jonathan Jansen
Jonathan Jansen Distinguished Professor of Education Stellenbosh University
South Africa
Jonathan Jansen is a Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and president of the South African Academy of Sciences.
Author of the award-winning book "Knowledge in the Blood", his books.
He was recently elected as a member of the International Academy of Education.
Thandi Chaane
Thandi Chaane CEO MIET Africa
South Africa

A teacher for 10 years, always focused on social transformation, she founded a literacy program and introduced libraries to schools across the country.

She was the first female Deputy Director-General for Education, where she was involved (1995-2000) in transforming apartheid education policies into those of the new political order.

Reverend Harold Good
Reverend Harold Good World Methodist Peace Award
United Kingdom
Harold Good is an Irish Methodist who, in the first decade of the 21st century, played a vital role in the peace process in Northern Ireland.

He was director of the Corrymeela Community Reconciliation Center and in 2001 he was appointed president of the Methodist Church in Ireland.
In 2005, he was one of two independent witnesses who oversaw the dismantling of weapons, a vital part of the peace process.

In 2007 he was awarded the World Methodist Peace Award.
John Carlin
John CarlinWriter and journalist / Author “Playing the enemy”/ Invictus
United Kingdom
John Carlin is a British journalist and prolific author, who deals with both sport and politics. A man of vision and a powerful and inspiring speaker.

 

His book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation, about former South African president Nelson Mandela, is the basis for the film Invictus 2009.

Ruy M. Santos
Ruy M. SantosFounder of MAKOBO Platform
Mozambique
In Mozambique, he has developed numerous projects in terms of job creation in rural areas and formal crafts and founded MAKOBO to respond to the needs of disadvantaged groups, in the context of social exclusion.

Among the various projects are food support for the literacy of the Mozambican population, currently including the HEART SOLIDARY - INTERVENTION COVID-19 initiative to minimize the negative impact of the disease on communities.
Funmi Olonisakin
Funmi OlonisakinFounding Director of the African Leadership Centre
Reino Unido
Funmi Olonisakin is Professor of Security, Leadership and Development at King’s College London and has been founding Director of the African Leadership Centre (ALC), which aims to build the next generation of African scholars and analysts generating cutting-edge knowledge for conflict, security and development in Africa. The ALC is based in Nairobi, Kenya and at King’s College London.
Amr Moussa
Amr MoussaFormer Secretary General of the Arab League 2001-2011 and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt 1991-2001
Egipt
He was the Egyptian Ambassador to India (1983-1986). He then became Egypt's Permanent Representative to the UN (1990-1991), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt (1991-2001) and Secretary General of the League of Arab States (2001-2011). 

Mandela bridges around the world

Diana Prata
Diana PrataInstitute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering
Portugal
Diana Prata is a Marie Curie Fellow and group leader at the Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Lisbon (after 12 years at King's College London, KCL, UK) where she created the research laboratory in Biomedical Neuroscience.

Closing session

Manan Ansari
Manan AnsariEx child laborer; Master Student in Applied Microbiology
India
Manan Ansari worked in the mica mines in Koderma at age 6. He worked 9 hours a day and lost his best friend in a mine collapse when he was 8 years old. It was then that his village decided to become a Child Friendly Village. Manan was enrolled in his village school and later moved to one of our rehabilitation centers to complete his education. While at Bal Ashram, it became evident that Manan not only had a passion for his studies, but also for fighting for the right for every child to be a child whether in Jharkhand or around the world. Manan is now 22 and studying at University of Bhubaneswar for a master’s in applied microbiology. Manan has actively questioned the practice of child labor at the ILO and most recently, this past November at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights.

UBUNTU DECLARATION

"One human family"

This Ubuntu Declaration "One human family" will be presented and adopted on July 18th, Mandela Day, during the "Mandela Bridges World E-Summit" initiative, being signed by all those who identify with it.

"I AM BECAUSE YOU ARE"

Mandela Bridges

Image

SPONSORS

ACM
FCG
CGD
OEI

PARTNERS

IP
ngic
Club de Madrid
Gleencree

PROMOTERS

ipav
ugn
alu