THE ELDERS - HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?

The internet brings all sorts of amazing information into our home. Have you seen this, or heard anything about it? I hadn't, until I read about this council of "Elders" on the Kiva Friends website. I have shamelessly plagarized and reposted the information here for you. Thank you, Richard, for posting it originally so that I could read it.

My question: why isn't this the sort of story the national news media share with us? Or did I just miss it? (ha, ha, ha!)

Mandela unveils 'council of Elders'

Nelson Mandela has marked his 89th birthday by forming a "council of elders" dedicated to finding new ways to resolve some of the world's longest-running crises. The former South African president launched his fellow elder statesmen on a new venture to foster peace, reduce conflict and despair during a birthday celebration on Wednesday [July 18, 2007].

Among them are Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, Jimmy Carter, the former US president and Desmond Tutu, the retired South African archbishop. Mandela said he hoped the new humanitarian alliance of Nobel peace laureates, politicians and development experts could make a difference.

The group called The Elders was an idea of British entrepreneur Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel, both of whom were present at the launch. Branson and others pledged $18m to fund The Elders over three years.

Other members include Ela Bhatt, a women's rights campaigner from India, former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, Li Zhaoxing, the former Chinese envoy to the UN now based in Africa, Mandela's wife Graca Machel, a children's rights campaigner, former Irish president Mary Robinson, and Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen bank, the pioneering micro-credit institution.

For more information, visit The Elders website.