The UN Security Council urgently needs to change.
Speaking at a high-level event last week on UNSC reforms, Juan Manuel Santos laid out a vision for a more effective and representative Council.
Read the full speech on our website: theelders.org/news/un-secu...
“I am deeply concerned by reports of the abuse in prison of Marwan Barghouti.” - Helen Clark
"These follow long-running allegations, including by the UN’s Committee Against Torture, of the systematic ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are arbitrarily detained. If the Israeli Prison Service wishes its denials of abuse to be believed, it must provide access to detainees, as is required under international law. The Elders have called for Barghouti’s immediate release, which is supported by Israeli political and security figures. He remains the most popular Palestinian leader in polls and could play an important role in the political process that is so urgently needed to deliver peace, dignity and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.” - Helen Clark
Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti should be free.
Fresh reports of abuse against him in prison make it even more urgent for leaders to pressure the Government of Israel to ensure he is treated with dignity and swiftly released.
The ceasefire between the US and Iran is only the first step.
What follows must be serious diplomacy: de-escalation across all fronts, a renewed nuclear agreement, and a broader regional settlement.
The Iran conflict sends a dangerous signal: that security lies in acquiring nuclear weapons.
In their recent statement, Elders outlined the war’s escalating nuclear risks.
Read in full: theelders.org/news/war-ira...
号召行动 | 各国政府必须立即采取行动，为公共利益管理人工智能。元老会和顶尖人工智能专家敦促各国政府应对不断升级的人工智能风险，确保技术服务于人类，而不是威胁人类。
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theelders.org/AI-call-to-a...
NEWSLETTER "States have legal obligations to protect the environment. This is not merely a matter of climate policy; it is a question of justice and the protection of human rights." - Hina Jilani, Member of The Elders
"A UNGA resolution to endorse the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on climate change is an opportunity for the international community to reaffirm its commitment to the rule of law – not as an abstract ideal, but as a practical tool for protecting people and upholding human rights in the face of a global crisis." - Hina Jilani, Member of The Elders Subscribe today
✉️NEWSLETTER | Climate and the rule of law: why states must step up now
Hina Jilani explains what a proposed UN-backed legal opinion on climate change, led by Vanuatu, might mean for climate justice, the rule of law and human rights.
Read & subscribe: theelders.org/news/climate...
Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz threatens not only energy supplies but global food security.
Elders join the call for a coordinated international mechanism to keep fertiliser and food moving.
Via International Crisis Group: www.crisisgroup.org/stm/global/i...
The Only Boots on the Ground in Iran Should Be IAEA Inspectors - Helen Clark
Given the disastrous track record of US foreign interventions, the only “boots on the ground” should belong to inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who urgently need to account for Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU) before the world ends up stumbling into a nuclear catastrophe. - Helen Clark
Only IAEA’s nuclear inspectors, not foreign troops, should be deployed on the ground in Iran.
Helen Clark argues in Project Syndicate that U.S. troops deployment would escalate the conflict and heighten nuclear risks.
www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/i...
Governments must act now to manage AI for the public good
We reject claims that governments cannot or should not regulate AI: because technology moves too quickly, because companies will regulate themselves, because geopolitical competition matters more than public safety. These narratives are all misleading.
CALL TO ACTION | Governments must act now to manage AI for the public good
Elders and leading Artificial Intelligence experts urge governments to tackle escalating AI risks to ensure technology serves humanity, rather than endangering it.
Read in full: theelders.org/news/governm...
"I have recently been inspired by the Mothers’ Call for Peace movement. Change is driven by the courage of ordinary people like these women, who refuse to accept injustice and who work together to build a peaceful, equal and just world." - Graça Machel, Deputy Chair of The Elders
Women have borne an enormous cost in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, yet their voices are least heard.
Palestinian and Israeli mothers will march side by side in Rome on 24 March, demanding peace and honouring lives lost.
Support and amplify their call: mothers-call.org
Elders’ Statement | 18.3.2026 War in Iran: Elders call for consistency in defence of the international rule of law
ELDERS' STATEMENT | 18.3.2026 US-IRAN CRISIS Many of the same leaders who rightly insisted that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 demanded an unequivocal response, now hesitate to call out unlawful military action by the USA and Israel in Iran. This hypocrisy is not lost on audiences in the Middle East or across the Global South. It is eroding trust in international institutions, and feeding the perception that Western countries invoke rules only when politically convenient. Read in full on The Elders' website.
STATEMENT ON IRAN | Elders call for consistency in defence of the international rule of law
The Elders urge countries to stand together, resist pressure, and make clear that those who started this war are responsible for its consequences.
🔗 Read the statement in full: theelders.org/news/war-ira...
"As Elders, we remind political leaders that abandoning or sidelining international law is criminal. It undermines the very foundations of global peace and stability, and puts the human family at grave risk." - Graça Machel, Deputy Chair of The Elders
A world in which powerful states set their own rules is a threat to everyone.
In our latest newsletter, Graça Machel warns that applying international rules selectively threatens the entire system that protects peace and security.
theelders.org/news/interna...
ELDERS’ STATEMENT | 10.03.2026 The Elders urge progress on Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex to secure a fair pandemic deal
ELDERS’ STATEMENT | The Elders urge progress on PABS Annex to secure a fair pandemic deal
A Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex is essential to ensure the world will respond faster and more equitably to the next pandemic.
Read the statement in full: theelders.org/news/elders-...
"The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion has illuminated the legal path forward in addressing climate change. The UN General Assembly now has the opportunity – and the responsibility – to walk that path, to uphold the rule of law, and to endorse the Court’s findings." - Mary Robinson
The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion was clear: states must protect the environment and prevent environmental harm across borders.
As Vanuatu introduces a UNGA resolution to endorse the ruling, Mary Robinson urges states to turn this legal clarity into real-world climate action 👇
"International law cannot be “à la carte”. Its credibility depends on consistent application, regardless of who is involved." - Graça Machel, Deputy Chair of The Elders
✉️ NEWSLETTER | International law cannot be “à la carte”
In our latest newsletter, Graça Machel discusses the U.S. and Israel’s military strikes in Iran and argues that a world in which powerful states set their own rules is a threat to everyone.
theelders.org/news/interna...
“The military strikes by the U.S. and Israel against Iran violate international law and threaten regional and global security.”
Chair of The Elders, Juan Manuel Santos, calls for an immediate halt to military escalation.
📝 OP-ED: The New Age of Resource Competition Needs Transparency
"The current race for critical minerals could easily reproduce injustices under a green banner. But that outcome is not inevitable."
Helen Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in @projectsyndicate.bsky.social: bit.ly/47gnmtB
Without New START the world faces a dangerous new nuclear arms race
President Trump has himself acknowledged that there are already enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world “100 times over”, and has called for talks on denuclearisation with both Russia and China. The time for those talks is now.
Without nuclear safeguards, risks multiply.
With no treaty limiting US and Russian nuclear arsenals, decades of restraint give way to uncertainty, competition and greater danger for all.
The AI Impact Summit has concluded without clear plans to tackle growing risks.
Leaders must heed the findings of Yoshua Bengio and his team's International AI Safety Report and ensure that AI's development does not continue to outpace our ability to govern it.
At #MSC2026, The Elders spoke up in defence of international law and multilateralism.
In meetings with global leaders, they underscored one message: security is built through dialogue and cooperation.
youtube.com/shorts/33v1e...
"A Board of Peace should remain wholly and urgently focused on the continued crisis in Gaza as provided for in the Security Council’s time-limited mandate." - Helen Clark, Member of The Elders
The UN Security Council supported a Board of Peace for Gaza’s interim administration, but what emerged at Davos is worrying.
In our latest newsletter, Helen Clark explores what this means for a multilateral system already under strain.
theelders.org/news/we-must...
"This is a moment of choice. Either the international community allows the values that have long underpinned global cooperation to erode, or it comes together to defend and renew them." - Helen Clark, Member of The Elders
✉️NEWSLETTER | We must reject a world governed by raw power
Helen Clark reflects on Davos, President Trump’s Board of Peace and pushing back against “might-is-right” as The Elders head to the Munich Security Conference.
Read & subscribe: theelders.org/news/we-must...
For the last 50 years, the New START treaty has kept the world safer by limiting U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin should move quickly toward extending New START or a new, verifiable agreement.
youtube.com/shorts/Nfdlz...
Diplomacy not bombs is the best route out of this current crisis.
Juan Manuel Santos hails the efforts of Oman to facilitate dialogue at US-Iran talks on Friday.
As of today, there are no treaty limits on the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals.
The expiration of New START increases nuclear risks for everyone.
Here the Chief Negotiator of the treaty joins Elders to explain the escalating dangers and what must happen now.
youtube.com/shorts/mEWHB...
The New START treaty, the last guardrail limiting US and Russian nuclear weapons is about to expire.
Presidents Trump and Putin must agree an extension to prevent a new nuclear arms race.
youtu.be/Qn0VIjRMAbs
Nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site, August 7th, 1957. Credit: USDOE.
For the first time in over 50 years, there will be no restraints on the stockpiles of the two biggest nuclear powers. It is in everyone’s interests to reduce nuclear risks. Any use of nuclear weapons, whether by accident or intentional, would be a catastrophic failure of leadership. The prize of a nuclear deal, on the other hand, is potentially huge.
ELDERS’ STATEMENT | The Elders urge USA, Russia to halt nuclear arms race as New START expires
theelders.org/news/elders-...
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The Elders urge USA, Russia to halt nuclear arms race as New START expires.
The world faces a destabilising nuclear arms race as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the United States of America and the Russian Federation expires on 5 February.
ELDERS’ STATEMENT | The Elders urge USA, Russia to halt nuclear arms race as New START expires
Putin and Trump must act urgently to secure a new deal, reduce nuclear risks and protect humanity.
theelders.org/news/elders-...
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“The Doomsday Clock is a sign of leaders’ failure to act responsibly in the face of existential threats. “They have not heeded the warnings of previous years, so once again the hands of the clock have moved even closer to midnight.” Juan Manuel Santos Chair of The Elders
“The looming expiration of the New START treaty between Russia and the USA means nuclear risks are likely to get even higher. This is intolerable. Humanity deserves better. Global citizens need to mobilise and make their voices heard, so leaders feel real and urgent pressure to change course.” Juan Manuel Santos Chair of The Elders
The Doomsday Clock has moved four seconds closer to midnight.
This is the consequence of world leaders’ lack of attention to the nuclear threat.
thebulletin.org/doomsday-clo...
“It’s an idea of one man and one man’s power.”
Speaking to CNN’s Isa Soares, Mary Robinson calls out the damaging consequences of President Trump’s Board of Peace for the multilateral system and the international rule of law.
youtube.com/shorts/1Y8e6...