Kofi Annan to chair Mo Ibrahim Foundation prize committee

Kofi Annan, the former UN Secretary-General, has been appointed chairman of the Foundation’s prize committee, and is joined by international statesmen:

• Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and UN special envoy to Kosovo
  
• Aicha Bah Diallo, former Minister of Education in Guinea and Director of Basic Education at UNESCO
  
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Finance Minister and former Foreign Minister of Nigeria
  
• Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (and board member of the Foundation)
  
• Salim Salim, former Prime Minister of Tanzania and former Secretary-General of the Organisation for African Unity (and board member of the Foundation)

Clockwise from left front: Kofi Annan, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Aicha Bah Diallo, Salim Salim, Mary Robinson and Martti Ahtisaari.

click to enlarge

Parties eligible for consideration for the award are former heads of state or government from sub-Saharan Africa who have left office in the last three years and demonstrated exemplary leadership; and the committee will assess every African leader who meets this criteria.

The prize, said to be the largest in the world, is worth US$5 million dollars over 10 years and US$200,000 annually for life thereafter.

The Foundation will announce the first winner of the award on 22nd October 2007.

The committee will draw on research from the Ibrahim Index of African governance, and assess the quality of governance in the areas of economic and social development, peace and security; human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The prize aims to encourage leaders who fully dedicate their constitutional tenure of office to surmount the development challenges of their countries, improve the livelihoods and welfare of their people and consolidate the foundation for sustainable development.

Speaking in Geneva at the announcement of the committee, Mr Annan says: "The task that lies before us - identifying the best in African leadership - is challenging. While developed countries have an important role to play in creating an enabling environment for Africa’s development, it is for Africa to lead and take ownership of Africa’s development process. Good governance and leadership are central to finding solutions to the vast challenges that face Africa. We hope that the Mo Ibrahim Prize will help to energize African leadership and encourage a new generation of young leaders to step up to this most urgent of challenges."