The Elders is an international non-governmental organisation of public figures noted as senior statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates, who were brought together by former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela in 2007. They describe themselves as "independent global leaders working together for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet". The goal Mandela set for The Elders was to use their "almost 1,000 years of collective experience" to work on solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems such as climate change, HIV/AIDS, and poverty, as well as to "use their political independence to help resolve some of the world's most intractable conflicts".
History As of 2025, The Elders is chaired by Juan Manuel Santos, and consists of twelve Elders and four Elders Emeritus. Mary Robinson served as chair from 2018 until 2024; Kofi Annan served as chair from 2013 until his death in 2018; Desmond Tutu served for six years as chair before stepping down in May 2013, and remained an Elder Emeritus until his death in 2021.
The group was initiated by English philanthropist Richard BransonBranson planned Mandela mission to prevent Iraq war, The Scotsman, 18 December 2004 and musician and human rights activist Peter Gabriel, together with anti-apartheid activist and former South African President Nelson Mandela. Mandela announced the formation of the group on his eighty-ninth birthday on 18 July 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
At the launch ceremony, an empty chair was left on stage for Aung San Suu Kyi, the human rights activist who was a political prisoner in Burma/Myanmar at the time. Present at the launch were Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Graça Machel, Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus, and Li Zhaoxing. Members who were not present at the launch were Ela Bhatt, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Lakhdar Brahimi, and Fernando Henrique Cardoso.
Martti Ahtisaari joined The Elders in September 2009, Hina Jilani and Ernesto Zedillo in July 2013, and Ricardo Lagos in June 2016. In June 2017, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also joined the group. Zeid Raad Al Hussein, Juan Manuel Santos and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf joined The Elders in January 2019. Elbegdorj Tsakhia, former President and Prime Minister of Mongolia, joined in October 2022.
The Elders are funded by a group of donors who are named on the advisory council.
Members The Elders Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director-General of the World Health Organization Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme Hina Jilani, international human rights defender from Pakistan Graça Machel (Co-Deputy Chair), former Education Minister of Mozambique, President of the Foundation for Community Development, widow of Samora Machel and widow of Nelson Mandela Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Ernesto Zedillo, former President of Mexico Ban Ki-moon (Co-Deputy Chair), former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos (Chair), former President of Colombia, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Zeid Raad Al Hussein, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Elbegdorj Tsakhia, former President and Prime Minister of Mongolia Denis Mukwege, Congolese gynecologist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Elders Emeritus Lakhdar Brahimi, former Foreign Minister of Algeria and United Nations envoy Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former President of Brazil Ricardo Lagos, former President of Chile
Former Elders Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was an honorary elder. Until her release from house arrest in 2010 the Elders kept an empty chair at each of their meetings, to mark their solidarity with Suu Kyi and Burma/Myanmar's other political prisoners. In line with the requirement that members of The Elders should not hold public office, Suu Kyi stepped down as an honorary Elder following her election to parliament on 1 April 2012. Li Zhaoxing, former Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, attended the launch. Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, microcredit pioneer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is a former Elder. Yunus stepped down as a member of The Elders in September 2009, stating that he was unable to do justice to his membership of the group due to the demands of his work.
Deceased Elders Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize laureateMykkänen, Pekka: Martti Ahtisaari luopuu arvovaltaisen The Elders -ryhmän aktiivijäsenyydestä Helsingin Sanomat 26.11.2018. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nobel Peace Prize laureate was Chair of The Elders from 2013 to 2018. Ela Bhatt, founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of India. Nelson Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former president of South Africa, was the founder of The Elders. Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, former Archbishop Primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and former Chair of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Donors and team The work of The Elders is coordinated and supported by a small team based in London. The team is headed by Alistair Fernie, who was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) in November 2021.
The Elders are independently funded by a group of donors, who also make up The Elders' Advisory Council: Richard Branson and Jean Oelwang (Virgin Unite), Peter Gabriel (The Peter Gabriel Foundation), Kathy Bushkin Calvin (The United Nations Foundation), Jeremy Coller and Lulit Solomon (J Coller Foundation), Randy Newcomb (Humanity United), Jeffrey Skoll and Sally Osberg (Skoll Foundation), Jeff Towers (Jeffrey Towers and Associates), and Marieke van Schaik (Dutch Postcode Lottery). Mabel van Oranje, former CEO of The Elders, sits on the advisory council in her capacity as Advisory Committee Chair of Girls Not Brides.
The Elders publish annual reports detailing the organisation's income and spending activity.
Work The Elders say they use their independence, collective experience and influence to work for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet. In their 2023–27 Strategy, The Elders' focus will be on three existential threats – the climate crisis, nuclear weapons and pandemics – and the continuing scourge of conflict. The Elders also have four cross-cutting commitments across all initiatives: human rights, gender equality and women's leadership, multilateralism and intergenerational dialogue.
Current work
The climate crisis In 2023–2027, The Elders say they will aim to hold big emitters to account for policies that align with the 1.5 °C limit and the global nature goal, and accelerate just transitions. They say will seek to influence the shape of the new climate finance goal to be agreed by 2025, and push for implementation of the UN agreement to operationalise a loss and damage fund. The Elders have expressed support the re-engineering of global development finance institutions to raise trillions of dollars for tackling the climate crisis, and say they want to see the voices of youth and women heard and respected so that a new political space can be created for more ambitious climate actions.
Pandemics The Elders have said they will advocate for a robust global PPR (Pandemic Preparedness and Response) agenda that should be treated as a global public good, requiring global public investment. They say that tackling pandemics must involve all parts of society, government, and the economy, and resilient and that publicly funded health systems based on the principles of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) are crucial.
Nuclear weapons The Elders say their goal is a world where current and future generations are free from the threat of nuclear destruction. They say they will use their moral voice to challenge world leaders, embolden multilateral approaches, and mobilise civil society. This includes advocating for more voices to be heard in decision-making, particularly women and youth.
Conflict The Elders say they will focus their efforts on advocating for international law and accountability, and on engagement in a limited number of conflict situations where they are they have the ability to play a distinctive role. They have said they initially plan to prioritise Russia’s war on Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On 20 October 2023 Mary Robinson discussed with representatives of Ukrainian President's Office implementation of Ukrainian Peace Formula. On 1 December 2023 President The Elders took part in a working meeting with representatives of 83 states on the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Past work
Universal health care (2016–2022) At the Women Deliver conference in May 2016, The Elders launched a new initiative to campaign for universal health coverage (UHC) as part of their efforts to support and implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The initiative focused on four areas:
Promoting UHC as the best way to achieve the health Sustainable Development Goal. Promoting UHC's health, economic and political benefits; Prioritising women, children and adolescents in UHC's implementation; Reiterating the role of public financing in sustainably funding UHC.
In September 2016, Gro Harlem Brundtland delivered a keynote speech at a high-level event on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly in New York. Joined by Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO and health ministers of South Africa and Thailand, she called for courageous leadership to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030.
In January 2017, Kofi Annan sent letters to Indian leaders to commend the progress made in reforming the Indian healthcare system, and Gro Harlem Brundtland and Ernesto Zedillo delivered keynote speeches at the Prince Mahidol Awards Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Gro Harlem Brundtland highlighted the importance of inclusive health policy and Ernesto Zedillo explained how to sustainably implement Universal Health Coverage.
Highlighting the link between access to affordable health care and gender equality, in January 2017, two members of The Elders expressed concern at the re-introduction of the Mexico City Policy by the recently inaugurated President of the United States, Donald Trump. The pro-abortion activist Gro Harlem Brundtland said: "This decision puts the health of women and children at risk" and warned that "vulnerable people will die unnecessarily."
Refugees and migration In October 2015, Kofi Annan, Gro Brundtland and Hina Jilani joined UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein and William L. Swing, the Director General of the International Organization for Migration, at an event on the refugee and migration crisis at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.
During the event, Gro Harlem Brundtland said "Too many leaders are not only shy when it comes to making this case to their people, they fundamentally lack the courage to do so...". Prince Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein also rejected the dehumanising rhetoric adopted by some politicians towards refugees and migrants.
Ahead of the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016, Kofi Annan, Maarti Ahtisaari and Lakhdar Brahimi visited Germany to launch a report calling for stronger political will to ensure that responsibility is truly shared between countries, and for better protection of the vulnerable. They met the then-Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Federal President Joachim Gauck, and also visited a refugee resettlement centre in Berlin to hear directly from new arrivals to Germany.