In a Tutu Talk in December 2021, 2013 Tutu Fellow Catherine Constantinides calls on young people to be active citizens and to commit to social change.
TutuTalks is a platform for African leaders who embody the values and ethics displayed by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu throughout his life of service and is a partnership with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and the African Leadership Institute.
2014 Tutu Fellow Ladé Araba is serving on the Green Outcomes Fund Advisory Committee. Ladé Araba is a senior development finance executive and board member with more than 18 years of experience.
The Green Outcomes Fund (GOF) incentivises local South African fund managers to increase investment in green, small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). The GOF is a new and unique structure that aims to catalyse higher quality and consistent green impacts. It has as one of its key goals the building of a common set of green metrics within the local investment industry.
2013 Tutu Fellow Catherine Constantinides has written an open letter to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Chair of the African Union, about the plight of the Saharawi people and their homeland, Western Sahara. The letter was published publicly on the eve of an Extraordinary African Union meeting on Silencing the Guns. It calls for AU action on the illegal occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco and on the military attack by Morocco in violation of a UN ceasefire agreement on Saharawi civilians in November 2020.
Catherine is a board member of the Saharawi Commission for Human Rights as well as a human rights and climate activist.
President Ramaphosa used his opening remarks as AU Chair to put the issue on the table.
2013 Tutu Fellow January Makamba has written a moving tribute for the late Tanzanian President, Mzee Mkapa, who died in July 2020. The tribute is a heartfelt and poetic portrait of a graceful leader, and the leadership he inspired in January and many others. Poignantly, he writes that, “Mkapa taught me that prominence is good when it comes to you, not when you seek it.”
January Makamba is a political leader, a former cabinet minister, and a Member of Parliament for the Bumbuli constituency.
2014 Tutu Fellow Sello Hatang mobilised the Nelson Mandela Foundation when it became apparent that South Africa would be facing a massive humanitarian crisis. Along with The Kolisi Foundation and the Imbumba Foundation, by the end of April his foundation had set up Each One Feed One with a start-up contribution of R500 000 from its own funds as an emergency relief vehicle, focusing on food security. It shortly thereafter began delivering food to starving people around the country.
Sello was also joined by 2013 Tutu Fellow Catherine Constantinides, who is an ambassador to the Each One Feed One programme.
This December saw a day of celebration as a group of 20 pioneering Strathmore University graduates from Kenya and Nigeria marked an important milestone at the innovative AGCO Agribusiness Qualification (AAQ). To commemorate the milestone, a lively graduation ceremony was held at Strathmore University’s campus in Nairobi, Kenya. The event was keynoted by Nuradin Osman, Vice President and General Manager of AGCO for Africa - and a 2013 Tutu Fellow.
In his remarks at a celebratory dinner, Nuradin shared with the gathering how the programme started from a simple conversation he and I held during a November 2016 alumni reunion of the Tutu Fellows at Nirox in South Africa.
2013 Tutu Fellow Dr Francois Bonnici shares in his TEDx talk in 2010 the issue of newborn survival. He starts out by asking which seems more dangerous - bungy jumping, shark infested waters, air travel? Rather, he says, it is infant mortality. The day we are born is the day we have the highest risk of dying.
Statistics show how incredibly big an issue newborn mortality is, and how investment in health has had great strides in improving the numbers. In some countries in Africa, the numbers can be as high as one child in 16 dies at birth. He has been trying to change the African health system and to raise awareness by working in humanitarian and development programs.
