Graça Machel

Dame
Graça Machel Mandela
DBE HonFBA
Graça Machel in 2010
First Lady of South Africa
In role
18 July 1998 – 14 June 1999
President Nelson Mandela
Preceded by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Succeeded by Zanele Mbeki
Mozambican Minister for Education and Culture
In office
1975–1989
First Lady of Mozambique
In role
11 November 1975 – 19 October 1986
President Samora Machel
Preceded by Position created
Succeeded by Marcelina Chissano
Personal details
Born Graça Simbine
(1945-10-17) 17 October 1945
Incadine, Mozambique (then Portuguese East Africa)
Spouse(s)
Children 2
Alma mater University of Lisbon
Occupation
Profession Teacher

Graça Machel Mandela DBE HonFBA (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɡɾasɐ mɐˈʃɛɫ]; née Simbine, pronounced [sĩˈbĩni], born 17 October 1945) is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the widow of both South African President Nelson Mandela and of Mozambican President Samora Machel. Machel is an international advocate for women's and children's rights and was made an honorary British Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work.

Graça Machel Mandelais a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. As a panel member she facilitates coalition building to leverage and broker knowledge, and convenes decision-makers to influence policy for lasting change in Africa.

Early life and career

Graça and Samora Machel hosting Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu, Maputo, 1979

Graça Simbine was born 17 days after her father's death, the youngest of six children,[1] in rural Incadine, Gaza Province, Portuguese East Africa (modern-day Mozambique). She attended Methodist mission schools before gaining a scholarship to the University of Lisbon in Portugal, where she studied German and first became involved in independence issues. She also speaks French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and English, as well as her native Shangaan language. Simbine returned to Portuguese East Africa in 1973, joining the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) and working as a school teacher.

Following Mozambique's independence in 1975, Simbine was appointed Minister for Education and Culture. She married Mozambican first President Samora Machel that same year, changing her last name to Machel. Following her retirement from the Mozambique ministry, Machel was appointed as the expert in charge of producing the groundbreaking United Nations report on the impact of armed conflict on children.[2]

Machel received the 1995 Nansen Medal from the United Nations in recognition of her longstanding humanitarian work, particularly on behalf of refugee children.[3]

In 1997, Machel was honored with the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions and services in the field of human rights protection. One year later, Machel was one of the two winners of the North–South Prize awarded by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe.[4]

Machel currently serves as the chair of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH). She also serves as the chair of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA) Eminent Advisory Board.[5][6]

Machel during the WEF 2010

Machel has been chancellor of the University of Cape Town since 1999. She was named president of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 2012. In 2016, Machel was named Chancellor of the African Leadership University, a role that she still holds today.[7]

In July 2017, Machel was elected an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy (HonFBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences.[8]

On 17 July 2018, Machel attended at the 16th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, which was located at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, alongside South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and former US President Barack Obama. The event was visited by nearly 15,000 people, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s birth.[9]

Personal life

US President Barack Obama greets Graça Machel at the memorial service for her late husband Nelson Mandela, Johannesburg, 2013

Simbine married Samora Machel, the first President of Mozambique, in 1975. Together they had two children, daughter Josina (born April 1976 and son Malengane (born December 1978). Samora Machel died in office in 1986 when his presidential aircraft crashed near the Mozambique-South Africa border.

Graça Machel Mandela married her second husband, Nelson Mandela, in Johannesburg on 18 July 1998, Mandela's 80th birthday. At the time, Mandela was serving as the first post-apartheid president of South Africa. Mandela died of pneumonia on 5 December 2013.[10]

The Elders

On 18 July 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel Mandela, and Desmond Tutu convened The Elders. Mandela announced its formation in a speech on his 89th birthday. The group works on thematic as well as geographically specific subjects. The Elders' priority issue areas include the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the Korean Peninsula, Sudan and South Sudan, sustainable development, and equality for girls and women.[11]

Machel has been particularly involved in The Elders' work on child marriage, including the founding of Girls Not Brides: The Global Partnership to End Child Marriage.[12][13]

The Africa Progress Panel

Machel is a member of the Africa Progress Panel (APP), a group of ten distinguished individuals who advocate at the highest levels for equitable and sustainable development in Africa. Every year, the Panel releases a report, the Africa Progress Report, that outlines an issue of immediate importance to the continent and suggests a set of associated policies.[14]

Positions

Honors, awards and international recognition

Honors

Awards

Honorary doctorates

References

  1. ↑ "Graca Machel: There Is Nothing Exceptional About Me..." This Day Live. 16 August 2014. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015.
  2. ↑ The impact of Armed Conflict on Children. Unicef.org. Retrieved on 2011-11-07.
  3. ↑ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Nansen Refugee Award". Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "The North South Prize of Lisbon". North-South Centre. Council of Europe. Archived from the original on 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
  5. ↑ "Eminent Advisory Board".
  6. ↑ "Reaching Every Woman and Every Child through Partnership" (PDF). World Health Organization. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  7. ↑ "Evening with Graca Machel and Fred Swaniker". Evening with Graca Machel and Fred Swaniker. Ayiba Team. 4 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Elections to the British Academy celebrate the diversity of UK research". 21 Jul 2017.
  9. ↑ "Barack Obama in coded attack on Donald Trump in his most significant speech since the end of his presidency". 17 Jul 2018.
  10. ↑ "Nelson Mandela Has Died, A Look Back at His Legacy". Biography. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  11. ↑ "The Elders: Our Work". TheElders.org. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
  12. ↑ Elisabeth Braw, Metro International (2011-10-10). "Graca Machel: Within Ten Years Women Will Have Changed Africa". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
  13. ↑ Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu (2012-08-01). "Early marriage robs children of their opportunities". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2013-03-07.
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 January 2013. Retrieved 27 June 2013.
  15. ↑ "Our Leadership - ALU". ALU. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  16. ↑ "People - ACCORD". ACCORD. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  17. ↑ "Graça Machel". United Nations. 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "Graça Machel was named The World's Children's Prize Decade Child Rights Hero 2009 for her long and courageous struggle for children's rights, mainly in Mozambique". worldschildrensprize. 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Graça Machel (Mozambique)". Archived from the original on 4 July 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2011. . United Nations Foundation profile
  20. ↑ "UMass honors Nelson Mandela with honorary degree - The Boston Globe". Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  21. ↑ "Graça Machel to receive honorary doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch". University of Stellenbosch. 18 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2010.
  22. ↑ "Graça Machel, investida doctora honoris causa a la UB". Retrieved 18 July 2018.

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