The Elders: Nobel Peace Prize | Girls Not Brides | Palestinian statehood | Côte d'Ivoire | New website

 
Sent: sexta-feira, 7 de Outubro de 2011 17:24
Subject: Your update from The Elders: Nobel Peace Prize | Girls Not Brides | Palestinian statehood | Côte d'Ivoire | New website

Dear friends, First of all I am sure you will all join me in wishing our dear Chair Desmond Tutu a very happy 80th birthday! You can share your birthday wishes on our Facebook page and on Twitter. I am also absolutely delighted that this year's Nobel Peace Prize has been received by three outstanding women, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Tawakul Karman of Yemen. This is a great recognition of the important role women must play in resolving conflicts and building peace. Great change can happen in a single generation When Nelson Mandela brought us together as Elders, he did so in the belief that together we are stronger, that change happens when people collectively take action to make our world a better place. Imagine the scale of change possible if, in that spirit, we connect all those around the world who are working bravely to end child marriage, a harmful traditional practice that robs 10 million girls a year of their childhood. As Desmond Tutu says, we know from our own experience that great change can happen in a single generation. That's why we were inspired to launch Girls Not Brides, a new global partnership that brings together grassroots, national and international organisations committed to ending child marriage. Child brides are among the most isolated and vulnerable people in our global community. It is time that their stories are shared globally and their voices heard by leaders who are in a position to make a difference.        We therefore chose to announce the Girls Not Brides partnership in New York last month, when global leaders gathered in the city for the opening week of the United Nations General Assembly. Our message was simple: it is time to put ending child marriage at the top of the international agenda. Throughout the week, Archbishop Tutu told leaders and decision makers that he is as committed to ending child marriage as he was to ending apartheid. Find out more about our global campaign to end child marriage by visiting the new Girls Not Brides website and by watching our new video calling for global action to give millions of girls their lives back. Keep up to date as the Girls Not Brides partnership grows by following us on Twitter and Facebook. BLOG: To achieve the MDGs, put girls at the centre of development. Ela Bhatt argues that we need to encourage families and communities to value girls for their education, skills and work – not for their fertility. BLOG: A message to men and boys about child marriage. Desmond Tutu calls on men and boys to stand up for the rights of women and girls and support efforts to end child marriage. BLOG: Why we are going to New York. Mary Robinson blogs about The Elders' plans to put ending child marriage at the top of the international agenda. Supporting the legitimate Palestinian right to statehood We strongly support the Palestinian people's right to statehood and we believe that the United Nations is the right forum to address this issue. More than two decades of negotiations have produced neither a state for the Palestinians, nor security and regional recognition for Israel. The Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN could be the 'game-changer' that revives the stalled Middle East peace process. Prior to the UN General Assembly meeting in September we wrote to the foreign ministers of all 27 European Union member states, urging them to adopt a strong common position in favour of a UN resolution that would endorse the right of the Palestinian people to statehood. As Israel's biggest trading partner and the largest donor to the Palestinian Authority, we believe that the EU has a pivotal role to play in encouraging both parties to come to a real and lasting peace agreement. Along with five of my fellow Elders, I met Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, in New York on the eve of his historic application to the UN Secretary-General. We held a candid discussion with him, expressing our support for his efforts to achieve recognition of a Palestinian state. Building trust and securing peace in Côte d'Ivoire We welcomed the inauguration of a formal process of national reconciliation in Côte d'Ivoire, a country thrown into turmoil when violence erupted after presidential elections in late 2010. More than 3,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands fled in fear. Archbishop Tutu, who headed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, and who joined Kofi Annan and me on our visit to Côte d'Ivoire in April, has again encouraged Ivoirian President Ouattara to ensure an inclusive reconciliation process – and that the judicial process he has started is fair and impartial. He cautioned that any perception that "victor's justice" is being applied would greatly undermine the reconciliation process. We've re-designed our website My thanks to all of you who helped with the re-development of our website in the past year, not only by participating in our survey and user-testing, but also through all the ideas and comments you have sent along the way. Your contributions have been very helpful. There are still many new features to come in the next few weeks, in particular plenty of opportunities for you to discuss our work online. We'll keep you updated as work progresses. Best wishes, Mary Robinson View this email in your browser. 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