When it comes to spreading light and hope in working for peace and social justice with patience and perseverance, one person truly stands out as a shining world leader: Mr. Nelson Mandela. As one who dedicated much of his adult life to protect and promote universal human rights, Mr. Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years due to his activities as an anti-apartheid and freedom leader.

Born in July 1918, Mr. Mandela completed his college studies through correspondence classes while working and then went on to study law. During the time he was in prison, his main objective was to bring peace to the black majority in South Africa and give them the basic human right to vote. His wish was realized on April 27, 1994, during South Africa’s first democratic election. At that time he was inaugurated and became the first black president of South Africa to represent the ANC (African National Congress). He then went on to coordinate the peaceful transition of the country’s representative democracy.

President Mandela ♥♥♥♥♥♥ has earned international respect for his role in bringing peace to the country and to the people of South Africa through his leadership. Amnesty International spokesperson, Bill Shipsey, said: “Mandela, through his fight and victory against apartheid, showed the world that no problem is too difficult to solve.”

Mr. Mandela has been honored over the past four decades with over 100 awards. In 1993, he was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and most recently was presented with the 2006 Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award. Mr. Mandela accepted this prestigious award “as a step toward fighting injustices in the whole world.”

Nelson Mandela retired in 1999 and went on as an elder statesman to dedicate much of his time to human right issues and addressing the AIDS epidemic. He continued to do advocacy work and at the age of 85 announced that due to his health he would retire to spend more time with his family. However, this did not deter him from traveling to Bangkok to speak at the XV International Aids Conference in Thailand. He is still active with the Make Poverty History campaign, United World Colleges and even appeared in a Public Broadcast announcement for the International Olympic Committees “Celebrate Humanity” campaign during the 2006 Olympics.

It is with gratitude and respect that we would like to thank Mr. Nelson Mandela for his life-long journey to promote human rights and for providing inspiration to millions of people to continue to strive for universal good.

Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Nation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela
http://www.namibian.com.na/2006/November/world/0656F15C4C.html
http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=485135

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