Desmond Tutu to deliver Commonwealth Lecture

This year’s Commonwealth Lecture, which aims to stimulate understanding, discussion and debate on the Commonwealth and its role in world affairs, will be given by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

The 12th lecture is taking place on 14 September in London’s Guildhall, and Archbishop Tutu will speak on the 2009 Commonwealth theme: 'thecommonwealth@60 - serving a new generation'.

Past speakers include Professor Amartya Sen, 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Science; Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations; and Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was born in South Africa and became the first black General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches in 1978.

Known throughout the world for his anti-apartheid work, his contributions earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. He became the first black Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg in 1984 and Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986. In December 1995, President Nelson Mandela appointed him Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.

Today, Archbishop Tutu is regarded as a spiritual leader, an elder statesman with a major role to play in reconciliation, and a leading moral voice in the world.

Admission is by invitation only.

Related Websites:

• Commonwealth Foundation