Annual Lecture

The Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture series invites prominent people to drive debate on significant social issues. The lecture series is an important event on the Centre's calendar, and encourages people to enter into dialogue – often about difficult subjects – in order to address the challenges we face today. Previous speakers incude Bill Clinton; Archbishop Desmond Tutu; former President Thabo Mbeki; world-acclaimed Chilean-American author, human rights activist and distinguished professor of Literature and Latin-American Studies Ariel Dorfman; Nobel laureate Prof Wangari Maathai; Mr Kofi Annan; Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf; Professor Muhammad Yunus; Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria (BA) in Egypt and Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and President of the Mary Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice.