A message from

Mary Robinson

Chair of The Elders

Dear Friends,

Today’s complex challenges require working together towards multilateral solutions and the common good. All of The Elders’ activities last month indicate the urgent need for ethical leadership in the world today.

Ban Ki-moon and I addressed the UN Security Council this month in a session focused on conflict prevention and mediation. I called on the Council, in particular its five permanent members, to fulfil their mandate and act as a defender of rights and provider of protection. All too often, they have failed to live up to their responsibilities by favouring short-term power stratagems.

Ban Ki-moon also raised the critical point of reforming the Council’s working methods so it can assert its collective voice through strong and timely statements on issues of global importance. The Council “needs to speak for and to the whole of the United Nations”, rather than being constrained by the respective agendas of its member states, he warned.

Cooperation between governments, private companies and civil society is needed more than ever in response to the threat posed by climate change. I addressed a group of CEOs of leading oil and gas companies and financial investment funds for a dialogue convened by Pope Francis in the Vatican, where I challenged fossil fuel industries to do the right thing and halt all fossil fuel extraction. Ernesto Zedillo engaged with a different set of stakeholders at the F20 forum in Tokyo to discuss financing the transition to a green economy.

Encouraging governments to make tangible commitments, I addressed the Open Government Partnership in Ottowa and Hina Jilani spoke at Women Deliver in Vancouver where we both championed women’s leadership on a range of issues including access to justice and climate change.

Prevention is by far the most effective way to deal with conflicts, and we issued two statements this month on particular areas of concern: the escalations of tensions in the Gulf region and the violence against peaceful protestors in Sudan.

Key to conflict prevention is investment in addressing root causes, and building robust institutions that allow people to resolve differences and disagreements before violence erupts. I addressed a G7+ meeting of justice ministers from conflict affected countries and fragile states to discuss how injustice can threaten social peace and stability, and emphasise how access to justice can play a fundamental role in conflict prevention.

The rule of law must always be paramount in determining state policy, and is the cornerstone of human rights protection worldwide. In this regard, The Elders welcomed the recent Court of Appeal ruling in London that UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen is unlawful. Yemenis have paid a terrible price in a conflict driven by geopolitics and the UK must now stop supplying arms that are being used in violation of international humanitarian law.

Mary Robinson