Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is the
first African to have been appointed co-chair
of the InterAction Council of Former Heads of
State and Government during the 32nd annual
plenary meeting in Newport, United Kingdom.
“I am humbled to have been elected as Co-
Chair of the InterAction Council, a position that
has been held by some of my great friends
who were also my mentors over the years –
Helmut Schmidt of Germany and the late
Malcolm Fraser of Australia – and also to
serve alongside my longtime friend Jean
Chrétien, the former Prime Minister of
Canada,” Obasanjo said on Friday after his
appointment.
“We will continue the Council’s important
work, but also look at some issues that are of
particular concern to me, like youth
engagement and employment. Africa has many
problems but also great opportunities, and the
IAC will look at both.”
Obasanjo has governed Nigeria as both the
head of a military administration (1975-1979)
and then as a democratically-elected civilian
president (1999-2007). He was a founding
member of the InterAction Council, taking leave
for the years when he resumed office as
president in 1999.
Obasanjo has assumed the position from Franz
Vranitzky, former chancellor of Austria
(1986-1997), who served as co-chair from 1
July 2010 until now.
Established in 1983, the InterAction Council of
Former Heads of State and Government is an
international organization addressing political,
economic and social problems of
the humankind. The membership is comprised
of over thirty former heads of state who
submit their proposals of actions directly to
national and international decision-makers.
In its 32-year history, the InterAction Council
has been at the forefront of many prominent
issues, most notably the 1997 drafting of
the Universal Declaration of Human
Responsibilities, a document that
counterbalances the UN’s Declaration of
Human Rights; the 2010 Hiroshima
Declaration, a powerful plea for the
abolishment of nuclear weapons; and the 2012
report, The Global Water Crisis: Addressing an
Urgent Security Issue.
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