Still loved around the world: Mandela’s legacy in education, health and politics

“Political freedom alone is still not enough if you lack clean water. Freedom alone is not enough without light to read at night, without time or access to water to irrigate your farm, without the ability to catch fish to feed your family. For this reason, the struggle for sustainable development nearly equals the struggle for political freedom.”

This statement was uttered by Nelson Mandela, the great South African activist, humanist, and former president, who is still loved and respected around the world for bringing attention to humanitarian obligations.

An influential figure, the world still celebrates Mandela’s birthday, which coincides with this week, despite the passage of almost a decade since his death.

Mandela committed himself to informing others of the importance of education for the next generation, a sustainable planet, equal access to healthcare, and political and voting rights for all.

In his war against the restrictions of apartheid, imprisonment for more than a quarter-century, and political struggles, Mandela used his brilliant mind and inspiring spirit to improve the lives of millions of his country's citizens as a leader, researcher and activist, ultimately becoming one of the greatest humanitarians of all time.

Not only did Mandela liberate an entire country from the grip of apartheid, he also continued to fight for the poorest and most vulnerable around the world until the end of his life. After the end of his first term in office in 1999 and his refusal to run for a new one, Mandela devoted himself to developing and building his society at the political, social and educational levels.

In addition to his great political achievements in South Africa, Mandela put at the forefront of his interests the development of the citizen himself, because he fully realized that there is no freedom without building the human being. He fought for a decent life, including empowering women, access to quality education, providing clean drinking water, and fighting HIV/AIDS.

Involving women in politics

From the beginning of his term as president, Mandela sought to put women on an equal footing with men, especially in the political sphere. He also fought for the elimination of violence against women and equal pay with men, although South African women are still fighting for justice.

During his first address to the people after assuming the presidency in 1994, Mandela expressed his commitment to women's liberation and demanded equality across the various governmental and private sectors of South Africa.

“It is critical that all institutions of government, including the president himself, understand this well: that freedom cannot be achieved unless women are liberated from all forms of oppression,” Mandela said.

“We will not succeed in reaching the goals of the reconstruction and real development plan unless the conditions of women change radically for the better in our country. The first step is to enable them to participate in all aspects of life on an equal basis with men in society,” he added.

The growing number of women joining the South African parliament and government generally reflects the success of Mandela's plan for women's empowerment and gender equality.

Women held only 2.7% of the seats in the South African parliament when Mandela was elected to the presidency. But less than two decades later in 2013, women held 44% of the legislative body.

Fighting HIV/AIDS

Early in his political career, Mandela did not show much interest in HIV/AIDS, as many experts have pointed out. But at the end of his term, Mandela made it a priority to raise awareness and eradicate this disease around the world.

During his presidency, Mandela's government was reticent about acknowledging the scale of the AIDS crisis, affecting one in four people between the ages of 15 and 49 by 2000. Mandela's successor, Thabo Mbeki, took a hardline approach to AIDS denial.

But in 2000, when the crisis spiraled out of control, Mandela joined a group of activists who demanded recognition and control of the disease.

“Our country is facing a catastrophe of immeasurable proportions due to HIV/AIDS,” Mandela said on World AIDS Day that year. “We are facing a silent and invisible enemy that threatens our society.”

In 2003, the Mandela Foundation launched a concert series that was broadcast to two million viewers around the world and put AIDS at the forefront of global issues. The event raised funds for research and awareness of the virus.

Two years later, to the shock of the world, Mandela announced that his son had died of AIDS. This news raised awareness and drew global attention to the disease and its dangers.

Following Mandela's death, the head of the United Nations Agency on AIDS, Michel Sidibe, acknowledged in 2013 the success and impact of the Mandela campaign in establishing principles of AIDS awareness and how to confront it with modern methods. His influence helped save millions of lives and directed the world's view of Africa's health.

Education of children in rural and poor areas

“Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the world.” Mandela stuck to his famous saying that he succeeded in turning into reality, and he did not give up on this dream even after his presidency ended.

Mandela believed that real development in education began in the countryside, where people were remotest and poorest.

In 2007, Mandela established the Nelson Mandela Institute for Rural Development and Education to train and send highly-experienced teachers to rural and impoverished areas and to equip schools with state-of-the-art equipment and educational programs.

The majority of South African students, both black and white, attended primary school after Mandela took office. But the large income disparity, in addition to untrained teachers and ill-equipped facilities, prevented rural students from continuing their education like urban students in particular and overcoming the education gap that existed during apartheid.

“Many students in the far rural parts of our country can only read and write,” Mandela said at the time. “But in reality they are deprived of creativity, and so the world cannot see the greatness of their ideas.”

The mission of the Institute of Rural Development and Education, located in the rural Eastern Cape region of South Africa, is to promote a more sustainable future for younger generations and for the planet.

Supporting children's rights

“The true character of a society is manifested in the way it treats its children.” Mandela lived his life with these words in 1997 to become a steadfast advocate for children's rights and the improvement of their lives on the ground.

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund is now continuing the legacy of Mandela by pledging “to protect the voice and dignity of the African child by providing him with all his human rights.”

When he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, Mandela donated a portion of his prize money to support street children and other children in need. During his presidency, Mandela donated a third of his salary to create the organization, which he tasked with ending extreme poverty and its manifestations, such as hunger, exploitation and homelessness.

In 2009, Mandela was awarded the Children's Rights Champion in the International Decade for Children in recognition of his commitment to South African children and the world.

Encouraging scientific and environmental research

Mandela believed in the power of science, research and sustainable development so much that he co-founded three institutes of technology that bear his name in Nigeria, Tanzania and Burkina Faso, along with another institute in South Africa that also bears his name. This is a great development in a country where blacks were not even allowed to attend classes a few years ago.

During apartheid, black South Africans were banned from studying science and technology and barred from careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

But this situation changed once Mandela was elected president. He said at the opening of the Academy of Sciences in South Africa in 1996, “South Africa is in dire need of rapid development in scientific and technological research, especially research in the fields of science, engineering and technology.”

But Mandela's interest in technological development did not come at the expense of the environment and the planet. He was a staunch advocate of environment and sustainable development and opposed the misuse of South Africa's natural resources by the former colonial powers and their allies within Africa.

Mandela also paid great attention to ensuring that all South Africans had access to clean water, especially those living in poor and remote places, a task that continues today and has become a priority for all South African governments.

Regarding the damage to the natural environment, Mandela said, “The lack of access to clean water is the most affected by environmental degradation,” adding, “Our government has made great progress in delivering safe water to a much larger number than it was in the past. Therefore, I consider this to be among the most important achievements of democracy in our country.”

Ensuring the right to vote for all South Africans

In Mandela's first-ever televised interview as an anti-apartheid activist in 1961, the leader made a very clear demand for what black Africans wanted to achieve through their actions: the right to vote and political independence apart from levels of education or race.

It was not until the collapse of apartheid and his election as president in 1994 that Mandela realized his dream of imposing a multi-ethnic voting system. Nearly nine out of ten South Africans voted in those elections.