Ban Ki-moon

Former UN Secretary-General and former South Korean Foreign Minister; championed the world’s vulnerable by putting Sustainable Development, climate change, and gender equality at the top of the UN agenda.

Lakhdar Brahimi

Former Algerian freedom fighter, Foreign Minister, conflict mediator and UN diplomat; an expert in peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction.

Gro Harlem Brundtland

First woman Prime Minister of Norway; a medical doctor who champions health as a human right and a leading advocate on global preparedness for pandemics; put sustainable development on the international agenda.

Zeid Raad Al Hussein

Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; champion of international justice and multilateralism; veteran Jordanian diplomat and peacekeeping expert.

Hina Jilani

Pioneering lawyer and pro-democracy campaigner; a leading activist in Pakistan's women's movement and international champion of human rights.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Former President of Liberia and Africa’s first elected female head of state; Nobel Peace Laureate; a leading promoter of peace, justice and democratic rule; a voice for freedom and a champion for health for all.

Ricardo Lagos

Former President of Chile; tenacious fighter for democracy and human rights; implemented health reform; and reduced economic inequality while diversifying Chile’s external trade in the era of globalisation.

Graça Machel

International advocate for women’s and children's rights; former freedom fighter and first Education Minister of Mozambique.

Mary Robinson

First woman President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Chair of The Elders; a passionate, forceful advocate for gender equality, women’s participation in peace-building and human dignity.

Juan Manuel Santos

Former President of Colombia; a Nobel Peace Laureate who led complex peace negotiations, ending over 50 years of intractable civil war.

Ernesto Zedillo

Former President of Mexico who led profound democratic and social reforms; economist and advocate of multilateralism, inclusive globalisation, nuclear non-proliferation and drug policy reform.

Martti Ahtisaari

Former President of Finland; Nobel Peace Laureate and expert in international peace mediation, diplomacy and post-conflict state building.

Ela Bhatt

The ‘gentle revolutionary’; a pioneer in women’s empowerment and grassroots development, founder of the more than 1 million-strong Self-Employed Women’s Association in India.

Fernando Henrique Cardoso

Former President of Brazil; implemented major land reform programme, reduced poverty and significantly improved health and education; an acclaimed sociologist and global advocate for drug policy reform.

Jimmy Carter

Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town and Nobel Peace Laureate; a veteran anti-apartheid activist and peace campaigner widely regarded as ‘South Africa’s moral conscience’.