Nelson Mandela International Day 2025: The power to end poverty is in our hands

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918. In 2006, the United Nations declared July 18 Nelson Mandela International Day in recognition of his contribution to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world.

After 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela walked free on the 11 February, 1990. 

Just four years later, the anti-apartheid activist was elected president, South Africa’s first black leader and first head of a fully representative democratic state. 

Before taking office, his tireless efforts to dismantle the apartheid regime and foster racial reconciliation in the country won him the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, alongside President FW de Klerk. 

Since 2006, his birthday on July 18 has marked Nelson Mandela International Day, proclaimed by the United Nations in recognition of his contribution to the culture of peace and conflict resolution. 

Its aim is to inspire people across the globe to take action to make their communities a better place. This year’s theme is that the power to end poverty is in our hands.  

In a statement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said:

"Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary life showed how one person can transform oppression, struggle and subjugation into reconciliation, social justice and unity. Mandela believed in the power of collective, grassroots action. He knew that ordinary people could bend the arc of history, and that lasting change started not in capitals and boardrooms, but in neighbourhoods and communities."

Mandela died on 5 December 2013 at the age of 95.