“Poverty is day-to-day violence, no less destructive than war.”

Receiving the 2011 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, Ela Bhatt re-examines our idea of peace, arguing that equity, local economies and the empowerment of women through work are central to supporting economic freedoms, and therefore peace.

Final report – August 2012

In the spring of 2012, The Elders and four young activists began an inter-generational debate about the change needed to secure a sustainable future for our planet, in the run-up to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20). This report discusses the thinking behind the initiative, what it was able to achieve and the momentum it generated to further promote sustainable development.

With efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals focused on the target date of 2015, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announces the appointment of Graça Machel and 25 other civil society, private sector and government leaders as members of a new high-level panel tasked with outlining a vision of the post-2015 global development agenda.

"If government representatives had heard the heartfelt yearning for change, perhaps they would have given their negotiators a stronger mandate: a mandate to create the future we want and which the earth needs."

Writing for CNN, Mary Robinson echoes the frustration felt by those who had higher expectations for Rio+20 and urges people everywhere to mobilise to ensure an equitable, prosperous and sustainable future for the world.

"Like no other generation before, we can choose the type of future that we will leave to the next generation. A transition to a safe and prosperous future is possible, but will require the full use of humanity’s extraordinary capacity for innovation and creativity... Tinkering at the edges will not do the job."

Gro Harlem Brundtland writes in the International Herald Tribune as world leaders gather for the Rio+20 summit on sustainable development.