Graça Machel Explained

Graça Machel
Birth Name:Graça Simbine
Birth Date:17 October 1945
Birth Place:Incadine, Portuguese Mozambique
Party:FRELIMO (1973–Present)
African National Congress (1998–present)
Occupation:Teacher, politician, activist
Office1:First Lady of South Africa
Term Label1:In role
Term Start1:18 July 1998
Term End1:14 June 1999
President1:Nelson Mandela
Preceded1:Zindzi Mandela
Zenani Mandela
Succeeded1:Zanele Mbeki
Office2:First Lady of Mozambique
Term Label2:In role
Term Start2:11 November 1975
Term End2:19 October 1986
President2:Samora Machel
Preceded2:Position established
Succeeded2:Marcelina Chissano
Embed:yes
Office3:Minister of Education and Culture
Term Start3:25 June 1975
Term End3:1989
President3:Samora Machel
Preceded3:Position established
Embed:yes
Office4:Chancellor of the University of Cape Town
Term Start4:1999
Term End4:31 January 2019
1Blankname4:Vice-Chancellor
1Namedata4:Njabulo Ndebele
(2000–2008)
Max Price
(2008–2018)
Predecessor4:Harry Oppenheimer
Successor4:Precious Moloi-Motsepe
Alma Mater:University of Lisbon
Spouse:
    Children:2, including Josina Z. Machel
    Relatives:Mandela family (by marriage)

    Graça Machel (pronounced as /pt/; pronounced as /pt/; born 17 October 1945) is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. Machel is an international advocate for women's and children's rights and was made an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for her humanitarian work. She is the only woman in modern history to have served as First Lady of two countries, South Africa and Mozambique. She is the widow of former President of Mozambique Samora Machel (1975–1986) and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (1998–2013).

    Graça 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. 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.

    She was chancellor of the University of Cape Town between 1999 and 2019.

    Early life and education

    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.

    Machel also speaks French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and English, as well as her native Xitsonga language.

    Political career

    Simbine returned to Portuguese East Africa in 1973, joining the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and working as a schoolteacher. Following Mozambique's independence in 1975, Simbine was appointed Mozambican's first Minister of Education and Culture on 25 June 1975.

    During her tenure, the number of students enrolled in primary and secondary schools rose from about 40 per cent of all school-aged children to over 90 per cent for males and 75 per cent for females.[2]

    Later career

    Graça Machel received the 1992 Africa Prize, awarded annually to an individual who has contributed to the goal of eliminating hunger in Africa by the year 2000. 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. In the same year, she received the Global Citizen Award of the New England Circle. 1998, 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 was chancellor of the University of Cape Town from 1999 to 2019.[5] [6] In 2009, Machel was appointed to the Commonwealth of Nations' Eminent Persons Group. She was named president of the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 2012.[7] In 2016, Machel was named chancellor of the African Leadership University, a role that she still holds today.[8] [9]

    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.[10] In 2018, she was awarded by the World Health Organization for her contributions to the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents.

    On 17 July 2018, Machel attended 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.[11]

    In the leadup to COP27, Machel advocates that Africa's youth should have a greater say in climate politics and warned that existing development aid programs covering, for example, education may well be cut and diverted to fund climate change adaptation instead.[12]

    United Nations

    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.[13] From 2008 until 2009, she was a member of the High-Level Taskforce on Innovative International Financing for Health Systems, co-chaired by Gordon Brown and Robert Zoellick.[14] She served as the Chair of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) from 2013-2018. In January 2016, she was also appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the High-level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child.[15]

    On 17 January 2016, she was appointed as a Sustainable Development Goals Advocate[16] alongside 16 others, all appointed by Secretary-General of the United Nations

    The Elders

    On 18 July 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel, 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.[17]

    Machel has been particularly involved in The Elders' work on child marriage, including the founding of .[18] [19]

    Other activities

    Corporate boards

    Non-profit organizations

    Personal life

    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. Josina is a women's rights activist and in 2020 was listed as one of the BBC's 100 Women.[31]

    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.[32]

    Honours, awards and international recognition

    Honours

    Awards

    Honorary doctorates

    External links

    |-

    Notes and References

    1. News: Graca Machel: There Is Nothing Exceptional About Me... . 16 August 2014 . This Day Live . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150713231840/http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/graca-machel-there-is-nothing-exceptional-about-me-/186451 . 13 July 2015 . dmy-all .
    2. Web site: Graça Simbine Machel. 2011. sahistory. 4 May 2020.
    3. Web site: Nansen Refugee Award. United Nations High Commissioner for. Refugees. 13 December 2016.
    4. Web site: The North South Prize of Lisbon . North-South Centre . Council of Europe . 21 January 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080215230739/http://www.coe.int/t/e/north-south_centre/programmes/7_north-south_prize/winners_PNS.asp . 15 February 2008.
    5. Web site: Graca Machel steps down as UCT chancellor. Eyewitness News. Jarita. Kassen. 15 December 2019. 15 December 2019.
    6. Web site: I am not leaving UCT, I am taking UCT with me. University of Cape Town. Niémah . Davids. 13 December 2019. 15 December 2019.
    7. Web site: Graça Machel Appointed as President of SOAS . 22 August 2020 . 26 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201026134809/https://www.soas.ac.uk/news/newsitem75798.html . dead .
    8. Web site: Evening with Graca Machel and Fred Swaniker. 4 November 2015. Evening with Graca Machel and Fred Swaniker. Ayiba Team. 4 July 2016. 1 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041905/http://ayibamagazine.com/an-evening-with-graca-machel-and-fred-swaniker/. dead.
    9. News: Our Leadership – ALU. ALU. 1 May 2017. en-US. 25 September 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200925110230/https://alueducation.com/about/our-leadership/. dead.
    10. Web site: Elections to the British Academy celebrate the diversity of UK research. 21 July 2017.
    11. Web site: Barack Obama in coded attack on Donald Trump in his most significant speech since the end of his presidency. Ella Wills. 17 July 2018. London Evening Standard.
    12. News: Machel . Graça . Give Africa's youth a voice in shaping the climate agenda. It is their future at stake . 6 September 2022 . The Guardian . London, United Kingdom . 0261-3077 . 2022-09-06.
    13. http://www.unicef.org/graca The impact of Armed Conflict on Children
    14. https://www.who.int/pmnch/media/news/2009/hltfh_report/en/ High Level Taskforce on International Innovative Financing for Health Systems: Report released
    15. http://www.everywomaneverychild.org/news-events/news/1291-un-secretary-general-announces-members-of-the-high-level-advisory-group-for-every-woman-every-child UN Secretary-General Announces Members of the High-Level Advisory Group for Every Woman Every Child
    16. Web site: graca-machel. 19 September 2020. SDG Advocates. en-US.
    17. Web site: The Elders: Our Work . TheElders.org . 7 March 2013.
    18. Web site: Graca Machel: Within Ten Years Women Will Have Changed Africa . Elisabeth Braw, Metro International . The Huffington Post . 10 October 2011 . 7 March 2013.
    19. News: Early marriage robs children of their opportunities . Graça Machel and Desmond Tutu . The Washington Post . 1 August 2012 . 7 March 2013.
    20. http://www.whatana.com/en/boardOfDirectorsMain.php Board of Directors
    21. Web site: Africa Progress Panel - Africa Progress Report 2012 . 27 June 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130109214313/http://www.africaprogresspanel.org/en/publications/annual-reports/annual-report-2012/ . 9 January 2013 .
    22. http://www.africanchildforum.org/site/_archived/index.php/who-we-are/international-board-of-trustees.html International Board of Trustees
    23. https://www.accord.org.za/news/graca-machel-elected-chair-of-accord-board-of-trustees__trashed/ Graça Machel elected chair of ACCORD Board of Trustees
    24. News: Mrs Graça Machel. ACCORD. 11 April 2018. en-US. 13 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180413043422/http://www.accord.org.za/people/mrs-graca-machel/. dead.
    25. Web site: Eminent Advisory Board. 20 September 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20130524015248/http://www.awepa.org/index.php/en/about-us/organisational-structure/eminent-advisory-board.html. 24 May 2013. dead.
    26. Web site: Reaching Every Woman and Every Child through Partnership. World Health Organization. 19 September 2014.
    27. http://www.nelsonmandelachildrenshospital.org/leadership/ Board of Trustees
    28. https://www.synergos.org/about/board Board of Directors
    29. http://www.villagereach.org/about/team-board/board-directors/ Board of Directors
    30. https://unfoundation.org/who-we-are/our-board/ Board
    31. News: 23 November 2020. BBC 100 Women 2020: Who is on the list this year?. en-GB. BBC News. 3 January 2021.
    32. Web site: Nelson Mandela Has Died, A Look Back at His Legacy. Biography. 6 May 2018. en-us. 28 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180628125052/https://www.biography.com/news/mandela-dead-at-95. dead.
    33. Web site: Graça Machel. 2010. United Nations. 18 July 2018.
    34. Web site: 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. 2009. worldschildrensprize. 18 July 2018.
    35. Web site: Dignity of Women biography: Graça Machel. nelsonmandela.org. 4 May 2020.
    36. Web site: Graça Machel (Mozambique). https://web.archive.org/web/20110704111823/http://www.unfoundation.org/about-unf/our-board/graca-machel.html. 4 July 2011. bot: unknown. 7 November 2011. . United Nations Foundation profile
    37. Web site: UMass honors Nelson Mandela with honorary degree . The Boston Globe . 13 December 2016.
    38. Web site: Graça Machel to receive honorary doctorate from the University of Stellenbosch. 18 October 2007 . University of Stellenbosch. https://web.archive.org/web/20110612221533/http://www.sun.ac.za/News/NewsItem_Eng.asp?Lang=2&ItemID=13006 . 12 June 2011. dead. 24 February 2010.
    39. Web site: Graça Machel, investida doctora honoris causa a la UB. 18 July 2018.
    40. Web site: Registrar : Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin, Ireland. www.tcd.ie. 7 January 2020.
    41. Web site: Honorary doctorate for child rights activist Graça Machel. 8 February 2021.

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