Africa-Press – South-Africa. Placing compassion at the heart of human society is a task that each one of us is called to.”
This is the sentiment behind South African academic and activist Dr Mamphela Ramphele’s decision to take on the role of chairperson of an international organisation that aims to address some of the world’s biggest challenges by promoting compassion.
Ramphele has been appointed as the chairperson the Global Compassion Coalition (GCC).
She has had a celebrated career as an activist, medical doctor, academic, businesswoman and global thought leader.
Ramphele was also the co-founder of the Black Consciousness Movement with Steve Biko.
“My socialisation in the philosophy of Ubuntu as well as my activism as part of the Black Consciousness Movement that revitalised the liberation movements in the 1970s broadened my horizons to continue to seek opportunities to be part of coalitions of the willing to support the emergence of a world where equity and healthy ecosystems thrive,” she said.
Ramphele is the co-founder of ReimagineSA, co-president of The Club of Rome and chair at the Archbishop Tutu IP Trust, and has held numerous influential positions, including vice-chancellor at the University of Cape Town.
Founded by psychologist and Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center Dr Rick Hanson, the GCC is “working to bring the science and practice of compassion to new audiences”.
Mamphela Ramphele | The hope for the future we desire rests within us
It aims to mobilise a collective against climate change, growing and persistent inequalities, conflicts, and biodiversity loss.
Ramphele said: “The world is aching. Inequities continue to generate hunger, poverty, division, discrimination, the retreat of democracy, and climate emergencies.
“These existential problems will only be adequately addressed if we act together.”
Since its launch last year, the GCC has recruited nearly 25 000 members.
It includes among its founding supporters individuals such as Mpho Tutu, daughter of Desmond Tutu, comedian and activist Ruby Wax, and mindfulness teacher Jack Kornfield.
Ramphele said she was inspired to take up the post as chairperson because she believed to address the systemic problems facing humanity, “we have to spark a fundamental shift in the values that underlie our politics, economics, and societies”.
“That is why the GCC’s mission – to spread and embed compassion as the foundation of human society – is essential.”
Ramphele said the organisation spoke to many of the challenges experienced in South Africa.
“Liberation and the freedom to live the fullness of one’s humanity within healthy ecosystems is yet to dawn for 76% of my fellow citizens.
“We need to dig deep into our more distant history to reconnect with the spirit of our ancestors that nurtured and spread the spirit of Ubuntu – our own interpretation of what it means to live with compassion.
“For South Africans as for everyone else, the GCC is an opportunity to return – to return to what matters to us, what it means to be human, and what it means to live together.”
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