Samsung has once again assumed the role of technology partner to the Nelson Mandela Lecture. This year’s event took place on Wednesday, 25 August, and was the 19th annual lecture by the Nelson Mandela Foundation – the latest in a series of talks by distinguished and respected guest speakers. The virtual event was broadcast live from Johannesburg, South Africa and The Hague in the Netherlands.
The lecture was given by Mrs. Fatou Bensouda, the first woman and first African to serve as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). She is the outgoing Prosecutor of the ICC and has been previously listed by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and by Forbes magazine as one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women (2020) amongst other great distinctions.
The Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Series invites prominent people to drive debate on significant social issues. The lecture series is an important event on the foundation’s calendar, and encourages people to enter into dialogue – often about difficult subjects – in order to address the challenges we face today.
This year’s lecture addressed the issues of building the solidarities we as a society need, in order to find sustainable solutions to the multiple challenges facing humanity. The lecture spoke to the question of how we can create respect for the rule of law, and grow cultures of accountability in communities where many people are alienated from notions of rules of law and order.
The overall theme was centred on solutions to do more together, but in a different way.
“As Samsung, we are proud to once again partner with the Nelson Mandela foundation. As a technology brand, we are driven by the possibilities to use innovation as a driver of societal change. We have previously drawn great inspiration from the foundation and the legacy of Nelson Mandela.
It’s been an inspiring journey, from collaborating with the Trek4Mandela campaign, where we sponsored the 2018 Kilimanjaro climbers with Samsung Galaxy Watches for their health checks during the climb. In the same year, Samsung also donated 50 Galaxy tablets and a 75” interactive board for teachers at Phomolong Secondary School, in conjunction with the Caring for Girls initiative, where we distributed sanitary towels to over 1000 girls.
Campaigns such as these as well as joint-projects such as building homes with Habit for Humanity has defined Samsung’s relationship with the foundation as one that can make a meaningful difference. Recently, Samsung was also pleased to work with the foundation by providing Covid-19 rapid testing kits to assist the country during a challenging time.
This latest support of the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Series expands on our mission to use purposeful innovations to support causes that enhance the lives of people globally, “said Hlubi Shivanda, Director: Business Innovation Group and Corporate Affairs at Samsung South Africa
