The Elders is an international non-governmental organisation of public figures noted as senior statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates, who were brought together by former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela in 2007.

The goal Mandela set for The Elders was to use their "almost 1,000 years of collective experience" to work on solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems such as climate change, HIV/AIDS, and poverty, as well as to "use their political independence to help resolve some of the world's most intractable conflicts".

[37] At the Women Deliver conference in May 2016, The Elders launched a new initiative to campaign for universal health coverage (UHC) as part of their efforts to support and implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

[46] Highlighting the link between access to affordable health care and gender equality, in January 2017, two members of The Elders expressed concern at the re-introduction of the Mexico City Policy by the recently inaugurated President of the United States, Donald Trump.

[48] Ahead of the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016, Kofi Annan, Maarti Ahtisaari and Lakhdar Brahimi visited Germany to launch a report calling for stronger political will to ensure that responsibility is truly shared between countries, and for better protection of the vulnerable.

[52] Noting that seventy years since its founding, the UN was still falling short of its Charter pledge "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war",[52] The Elders proposed to: At the World Humanitarian Summit in May 2016, several Elders featured in a video alongside Salil Shetty, Secretary-General of Amnesty International and Simon Adams, Executive-Director of the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect, calling for veto restraint and increased cooperation amongst the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council to prevent mass atrocities and save lives.

They maintain the need to hold governments and businesses to their word so that the deal is implemented in full and in good faith, with adequate means to ratchet up ambition and have reiterated this in subsequent meetings including with Pope Francis and President Macron in late 2017.

[61] After some controversial remarks by COP president Sultan Al Jaber during the early December gathering, Elders chair Mary Robinson, writing on social media, repeated the need to stop burning fossil fuels and adopt renewable energy.

From Universal Health Coverage to climate change and mass migration, to peacebuilding and protecting human rights defenders, The Elders believe that women and girls have specific needs that demand appropriately-tailored policy responses.

[77] Delegation leader Kofi Annan and fellow Elders Martti Ahtisaari, Desmond Tutu and Ernesto Zedillo held a series of productive meetings on the easing of regional tensions; the spread of extremist violence internationally; human rights; and the Syrian crisis.

In 2016, The Elders issued a press release welcoming the lifting of sanctions against Iran as part of the implementation of the P5+1 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which they continued to support throughout the year.

[79] In January 2017, The Elders issued a statement following the death of former Iranian President Rafsanjani, stating that "Iran has lost one of its most influential leaders and a strong voice for reform and for the improvement of regional relations.

Given the far-reaching impact of the unresolved conflict and the power imbalance between the parties, The Elders believe the international community has a vital role to play in helping Israelis and Palestinians reach a lasting solution.

[82] In this regard, in August 2009, The Elders visited Israel and the West Bank to draw attention to the impact of the long-running conflict on ordinary people, and to support efforts by Israelis and Palestinians to promote peace.

[86] Four Elders, Mary Robinson, Ela Bhatt, Lakhdar Brahimi, and Jimmy Carter, returned to the Middle East in October 2010 to visit Egypt, Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Syria and the West Bank.

[91][92] In their discussions with political leaders, civil society, and humanitarian and human rights experts, the Elders sought to "express concern about the future of the two-state solution and highlight the effect of settlement expansion and other changes in the city of Jerusalem as a major impediment to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

They held talks with President Mahmoud Abbas and senior political figures from both Israel and Palestine, civil society groups and ordinary citizens to hear their perspectives and convey The Elders' commitment to a fair and enduring resolution to the conflict.

In the first trip, they travelled to Nay Pyi Taw and Myitkyina, Kachin State, in Myanmar and to Mae Sot and Chiang Mai in Thailand and deepened their relations key interlocutors and focused particularly on representatives of the country's ethnic minorities.

At their October 2017 board meeting, The Elders issued a statement[103] expressing their deep dismay and concern at the wave of violence and destruction that swept through Rakhine State from August 2017, displacing hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims.

In November 2008, three members of the Elders – Jimmy Carter, Graça Machel and Kofi Annan – planned to visit Zimbabwe to draw attention to the country's escalating humanitarian and economic crises.

[112] In June 2011, Desmond Tutu, Gro Brundtland and Mary Robinson visited Amhara, Ethiopia, to learn about child marriage in a region where half of all female children are married before the age of 15.

In July 2016, The Elders welcomed action taken by leaders in The Gambia, Tanzania and Uganda to end child marriage, as part of the African Union's continent-wide campaign to eradicate the harmful practice.

[129] Jimmy Carter, together with Martti Ahtisaari, Gro Harlem Brundtland and Mary Robinson, aimed to alleviate tensions on the Peninsula, particularly by encouraging dialogue and addressing security and humanitarian concerns such as reported food shortages in North Korea.

[131] In a report released following the Elders' visit, Jimmy Carter stated: "On relations between North and South Korea, there are no quick fixes...and progress will require greater flexibility, sincerity and commitment from all parties".

Desmond Tutu, Lakhdar Brahimi, Jimmy Carter and Graça Machel travelled to the country to learn more about the humanitarian situation in Darfur and to affirm the group's support for the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was negotiated between North and South Sudan in 2005 to end its 22-year civil war.

[154] In November 2011, a few weeks after elections to Tunisia's Constituent Assembly, Martti Ahtisaari, Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi travelled to Tunis to attend the annual gathering of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

During their meetings with President Mohamed Morsi, senior officials and diplomats, representatives of civil society organisations and young people, the Elders emphasised the importance of "an inclusive, democratic transition.

Mary Robinson, Graça Machel, Juan Manuel Santos, Ban Ki-moon and Zeid Raad Al Hussein delivered online addresses on the relationship between hope, peace, justice, human rights and multilateralism, which can be viewed on the Elders' website.

Their speeches were complemented by video responses from selected global figures including former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, NASA astronaut Chris Hadfield and Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate.

In episodes broadcast from 2020 to 2021, topics included pandemic preparedness, access to justice, ending violence against women and girls, reform of the UN Security Council, and the existential threat posed by nuclear weapons.