“We ought to do everything in our power to ensure girls can become all they can be.” Desmond Tutu

In November, Desmond Tutu and Graça Machel took part in a Girls Not Brides conference discussing how to end child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa. The event in South Africa brought together activists, campaigners and experts from across the continent.

In a video interview with David Frost for Al Jazeera, Desmond Tutu offers his personal insight into the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and his concerns for the recent developments taking place in the country. Later, joined by Jimmy Carter, they discuss The Elders’ involvement in the Middle East and how they as an organisation decide where to focus their efforts.

Writing in Le Figaro, Desmond Tutu and Graça Machel describe their sense of pride in the economic, political and social progress across Africa. They warn, however, that if Africa is to fulfil its rich potential, its leaders must understand they are the servants, not the masters, of their people.

Dans une tribune publiée dans Le Figaro, Graça Machel et Desmond Tutu s'inquiètent des revers démocratiques en Afrique de l'ouest. Ils exhortent les dirigeants africains à se mettre au service de leurs concitoyens et non pas à agir en maîtres.

Commenting in The Washington Post, Desmond Tutu expresses his concern about the discrimination and "wave of hate" in Africa directed at gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people.

Desmond Tutu argues that African leaders must stand by those who have suffered in Darfur and support the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir. This article first appeared in The New York Times.