World Leaders Celebrate Mandela Day

By Lydia Lim Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 18 2013 (IPS) - “As we extend our best wishes to President Mandela on his 95^th birthday, let us also give tangible meaning to our feelings of concern by taking action on behalf of others.”

At a special United Nations General Assembly meeting to celebrate Nelson Mandela International Day, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised the global leader as a “model of compassion” and called on people around the world to dedicate time on this day to community service.

Mandela Day marks the former South African president’s birthday and honours his commitment to the struggle against apartheid in his country, his spirit of reconciliation, and his work for continental peace across the globe.

Ban said that this year’s commemoration of Mandela Day “comes at a moment of deep reflection on the life and work of Madiba, as the universally revered leader remains in the hospital.”

The ailing leader’s daughter, Zindzi Mandela, said in a television interview on Thursday that he was making “remarkable progress,” though he remains in critical condition. “We are united in concern; we are also joined in admiration for a towering figure in the worldwide fight for equality and justice,” Ban said.

The U.N. joined the Nelson Mandela Foundation in its “Take Action, Inspire Change” campaign, which calls on people around the world to volunteer 67 minutes of their time to community service on this day to honour Mandela’s 67 years of public service.

To commemorate this year’s Mandela Day, the U.N. staff in New York helped build homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy last fall, Ban said. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton also spoke at the conference, reflecting on his first meeting with Mandela in 1993 and their friendship ever since.

“His heart was so big and his humanity so great, we often had trouble keeping our official roles apart from our personal friendship,” Clinton said of the South African leader. Mandela’s 95 years teach us several lessons, Clinton noted.

“First, you can’t save anybody else unless you save yourself,” Clinton said, explaining that Mandela walked out after 27 years of imprisonment, “a greater man than he went in,” having forgiven the very people who jailed him.

Clinton also emphasized, “[Mandela] proved that you don’t have to be in public office to serve others. That is what this day is all about.”

South African Member of Parliament Andrew Mlangeni, also a former political prisoner like Mandela, said at the conference that South Africans owe their freedom from apartheid to Mandela and the international community’s support.

“Today, I’m a free citizen now in my country and able to enjoy the freedom that our people were denied for so many centuries,” Mlangeni said.

U.N. Spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters Thursday that, on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day, U.N. staff around the world are commemorating the spirit of Mr. Mandela by devoting at least 67 minutes of their time today to community service.

In New York, more than 70 staff from the United Nations Secretariat, agencies, funds and programmes, as well as the Permanent Mission of South Africa, are helping to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in Long Beach and Far Rockaway.

The effort is coordinated by two grass-roots organizations — We Build New York and Respond & Rebuild.  In addition, United Nations offices around the world are organizing various volunteer actions.