Peace and The Elders

[Left: Stella Cornelius and Faith Bandler receive awards at the Sydney Peace Foundation from Nelson Mandela]

There are some stunning ideas out there. And the more simple, the more extraordinary.

The idea of a Ministry for Peace, for instance. It's a complete no-brainer. We have Ministries of Defence and wonder why we're always at war. As my friend Claire Jankelson says, it would be fabulous if people had to, or even better chose to, consult the Ministry for Peace before taking action. Imagine the discussions about Other Ways of Doing Things that could take place.

Dr Stella Cornelius, OBE, is the living, breathing embodiment of peace and peace options. It was her idea in the beginning - nearly 28 years ago - that this was an option. She's still doggedely working for it and with the chair of the Ministry for Peace campaign, Biannca Pace (yes, her surname really is Pace!) the intiative is picking up pace.

Because of meeting Stella (and what a pleasure that was) yesterday, I have done some research. When she sent me an email with the closing "blessings from the Elders" I just had to snoop about and see if there was some special reason for this. First found Stella Cornelius being awarded a peace prize in Sydney by Nelson Mandela. And then I found this website: a profound initiative called The Elders. Led by Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel and Desmond Tutu, amongst others (Richard Branson and many more), it is to draw on the wisdom of the Elders for their power and skill to make Peace a reality.