Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture series puts spotlight on gender
HOUGTHON – Read about the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture series here.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton has announced that the latest instalment of the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture series will come to a climax this year at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
The lecture series invites prominent people to drive debate on significant social issues and encourages broader dialogue participation in order to address a wide spectrum of societal challenges.
This year, the lecture will be delivered by Amina J. Mohammed, deputy secretary-general of the United Nations under the theme Centering gender – Reducing inequality through inclusion.
Mohammed joins the likes of former US president Bill Clinton; Archbishop Desmond Tutu; former president Thabo Mbeki; Chilean-American author and human rights activist Ariel Dorfman; Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai; former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan; Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; social entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus; director of Egypt’s Library of Alexandria Ismail Serageldin; former Irish president and philanthropist Mary Robinson; philanthropist Mo Ibrahim; Chilean President Michelle Bachelet; economist Thomas Piketty; and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who have graced the lecture stage.
“All these people have changed the face of dialogue and had a [significant impact] on their countries in one way or another,” said Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive officer, Sello Hatang. “This year, however, we thought we should have a very prominent African woman come and address the lecture with the view of casting the spotlight on the issue of gender.”
Mohammed was appointed as deputy secretary-general of the United Nations in January, prior to which she was special adviser to former UN secretary-general, Ban Ki Moon. Mohammed was instrumental in the United Nation’s setting of its sustainable development goals.
Hatang said Piketty’s talk on poverty and inequality in 2015 and Gate’s talk on building an inclusive society would, however, not be complete without addressing the issue of gender, therefore, making Mohammed’s talk important. He said the foundation strives to attract a leading cast of globally-renowned forerunners who encompass values parallel to those of Mandela.
“We thought that you cannot think of building an inclusive society and cannot think poverty and equality without thinking gender,” Hatang emphasised. “No one is better suited than Amina J. Mohammed to deliver this year’s lecture.”
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