Eminent figures urge global effort to help free
kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls
Desmond Tutu, Bill and Melinda Gates, Aliko Dangote, Rupert
Murdoch, Mo and Hadeel Ibrahim, Ted Turner and Franois-Henri
Pinault among global business, civil society and religious leaders
calling for urgent action and resources to #BringBackOurGirls
May 9, 2014
A group of over 50 eminent individuals from around the world are today
calling for a global effort to free the more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls
who were kidnapped last month.
In an open letter published today, the high level group of business, civil
society and religious leaders, calls on the Nigerian authorities and
international community to mobilise all necessary resources and expertise
to help locate and free the missing girls.
The letter says:
On April 14, more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted at gunpoint
from Chibok community in Borno State, Nigeria.
25 days later, the girls are still missing.
We urge all local, national and regional governments, with the full
support of the international community, to dedicate their expertise
and resources - from satellite imagery to intelligence services to
multinational corporations' supply chains - to #BringBackOurGirls.
Signed by:
tti Ahtisaari, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Member of the
Elders
Mohamed Azab, Representative of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar
Acha Bah Diallo, Chairperson of the Forum of African Women
Educationalists
Ela Bhatt, Founder of the Self-Employed Women's Association of
India and Member of the Elders
Bono, Co-founder, ONE
Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group and co-Chair of
the B Team
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Executive Chair of the UN Foundation
and Member of the Elders
Susan A Buffett, Chairman of The Sherwood Foundation, the
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Buffett Early
Childhood Fund
Kathy Calvin, President and CEO of the UN Foundation and B
Team Leader
President Fernando H Cardoso, Former President of Brazil and
Member of the Elders
President Joaquim Albert Chissano, Former President of the
Republic of Mozambique and Chairperson of the Africa Forum
Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development
Programme and Former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Aliko and Halima Dangote, Dangote Group
Bineta Diop, African Union Special Envoy for Women Peace and
Security
Andrew Forrest, Founder of the Walk Free Foundation
Raza Gafar, Founder and CEO of Enshaa
Bill and Melinda Gates, co-Founders and co-Chairs of the Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation
Helene Gayle, President and CEO of CARE USA
Mort Halperin, Senior Advisor to the Open Society Institute and
the Open Society Policy Center
Arianna Huffington, Chair, President and Editor-in-Chief of the
Huffington Post Media Group , and B Team leader
Mo and Hadeel Ibrahim , Mo Ibrahim Foundation
Abdoulie Janneh, Former Executive-Secretary of the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Hina Jilani, Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and
Member of the Elders
Guilherme Leal, co-Founder of Natura and B Team Leader
Graa Machel, Member of the Elders
Mark Malloch-Brown, Former United Nations Deputy Secretary-
General
Strive Masiyiwa, Founder of Econet Wireless and B Team
Leader
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, United Nations Under-Secretary
General and Executive Director of UN Women
Amina J Mohamed, United Nations Secretary-General's Special
Advisor
Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana, Chairperson of the
Coalition for Dialogue on Africa
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of NewsCorp and Chairman and
CEO of 21st Century Fox
President Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Former President of the Republic
of Tanzania and Member of the Africa Forum
Jay Naidoo, Chair of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Bbc NDiye, Former President of the African Development
Bank (AfDB) and Member of the Africa Forum.
President Karl Auguste Offman, Former President of the
Republic of Mauritius and Member of the Africa Forum
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister of Nigeria
Ronald Perelman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc.
Franois-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of Kering and B
Team Leader
President Pedro Pires, Former President Republic of Cape
Verde and Member of the Africa Forum
Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever and B Team Leader
Mary Robinson, Former President of reland and Member of the
Elders
Salim Ahmed Salim, Former Secretary-General of the
Organisation of African Unity
Toyin Saraki, Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation
President Amos Claudius Sawyer, Former President of the
Republic of Liberia and Member of the Africa Forum
Bobby Shriver, Co-founder and Chairman of (PRODUCT) RED
and Co-founder of DATA
Bishop Marcelo Snchez Sorondo, Bishop-Chancellor,
Pontifical Academy of Sciences, The Vatican
Danny Sriskandarajah, Secretary General, CIVICUS
Ted Turner, Founder and Chairman of the UN Foundation and
Founder of CNN
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Honorary Member of the
Elders
President Cassam Uteem, Former President of the Republic of
Mauritius
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and B Team
Leader
President Ernesto Zedillo, Former President of Mexico and
Member of the Elders
Jochen Zeitz, Former Chairman and CEO of PUMA and co-Chair
of the B Team
Notes to Editors
The open letter has been coordinated by The B Team, Femmes Africa
Solidarit, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, ONE, UN Foundation and Walk Free
Foundation
