‘I believe that its [IofC’s] approach offers a basis on which we Africans can help build a free, just and prosperous Africa and make our contribution to building a free, just and prosperous world.’
  Mohamed Sahnoun

For Mohamed Sahnoun, inaugurating Initiatives of Change Ethiopia at the headquarters of the African Union [1] in Addis Ababa was a special moment in his stellar diplomatic career filled with impressive achievements. As a member of the World Commission on the Environment and Development [2] (the Brundtland Commission) which developed the concept of sustainability in the 1980s, and later as then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special adviser on the Horn of Africa, he has dedicated his life to bringing peace, hope and environmental justice to Africa and the world.

During his two years as President of IofC, Sahnoun worked to bring IofC’s perspective of practical reconciliation based on change in people into numerous international forums. He established the Caux Forum on Human Security [3] and, as chair, continues to guide this significant initiative. As the former Deputy Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity, (predecessor of the African Union at whose headquarters the launch took place), he spoke as an African speaking to his own people:

Read his speech here [4].