Nelson Mandela
Credit: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel
Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
4 October 1994
| Giver: | Individual |
|---|---|
| Receiver: | - |
| Gift: | - |
| Approach: | Other |
| Issues: | 10. Reduced Inequalities, 16. Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions |
| Included in: | Social Activism |
Born in 1918 in a small village in South Africa’s Cape Province, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was the first black president of South Africa, from 1994 to 1999, and the first president to be elected in a representative democratic election. As an anti-racist revolutionary and then as a politician, his efforts focused on dismantling the legacy of the segregationist apartheid system and fostering racial justice and reconciliation in South Africa. Mandela received more than 250 honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize, for his lifelong activism for democracy and social justice. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in South Africa both for his political activism and his rich philanthropic endeavors.
Mandela’s greatest contribution to philanthropy was his immense political legacy as a revolutionary organizer for racial justice, a struggle he committed his life to. His struggle as an activist continued for twenty years under a repressive apartheid regime that arrested him several times, eventually seeing him imprisoned for 27 years. It was this legacy that gave legitimacy both to his rise to the presidency and to his charitable work.
In 1995, during his presidential mandate, Mandela donated a third of his presidential salary to create the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund, a non-profit organization which strives to change the way society treats its children and youth and centers the rights of children from a holistic perspective. At Mandela’s request the fund also initiated a process for the establishment of the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital, a specialized pediatric hospital serving both public and private patients. In the first few years of its service, the Fund helped raise almost $2.5 million and fund more than 780 projects. To date the fund has raised in excess of $80 million for its work and for the establishment of the Hospital.
Between 1995 and 1996, under Mandela’s presidency, the South African Government set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses under the apartheid system, contributing significantly to national peace and reconciliation in post-Apartheid South Africa.
In 1999, Mandela founded the Nelson Mandela Foundation after stepping down from his presidency, a non-profit organization to carry on his activist legacy and charity work. Through the foundation, his work sought to fight poverty and AIDS in South Africa, improve access to healthcare and education, and advocate land reform based on racial equity and foster peace and reconciliation interventions.
Starting in the 2000s, after realizing that South Africa was the most HIV-affected country in the world with more than four million active cases, Nelson Mandela became one of the world’s fiercest and most effective campaigners against AIDS. Through official visits to hospitals and several moving speeches, Mandela contributed to raise awareness and mobilize funds to combat the disease. Furthermore, he launched an international campaign to declare AIDS a global emergency and pushed for the introduction of antiretroviral drugs to be more available in South Africa. The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund also served as an advocacy agency against AIDS. Through a partnership with the Department of Social Development and various civil society organizations, the Fund helped create a concerted response to the virus which allowed to decrease the number of AIDS-related deaths in the country by 32 percent between 2005 and 2011.
Today, the Nelson Mandela Foundation continues Mandela’s work to further his activism and legacy, using dialogue and advocacy to promote racial justice and equity and find viable solutions to social and economic problems plaguing contemporary South Africa.
Throughout the years, the institutions established in his name have foundation’s work has played a significant role in alleviating the suffering of millions of South Africans struggling with poverty, diseases and human rights abuses and in advocating for a more just society.
Contributor: Maha Tazi