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"August 26, 2002
Jane Goodall is a star.
Her books about chimpanzees are bestsellers across the world. Her long, patient, and pioneering studies have changed the way we think about primates and perhaps about ourselves. Her foundation has now won international respect, while Roots and Shoots, her programme for youth, now has groups in over 50 countries across the world.
Dr Goodall is the best known of the high-level advisory panel Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, appointed to advise him on sustainable development - and she will be courted here in Joburg by some of the summit's biggest names.
She is a much quieter force than the Naomi Kleins or Michael Dorseys of this world.
"Confrontation can be counter productive," she says "Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don't believe is right."
However, the change she is calling for is far from uncontroversial. In an interview with Daily Summit - her first in Joburg - she advocates considerably lower standards of living for the rich, so the poor can consume more. Neither is she a summit fan.
"It's horrifying to think of the waste the summit will cause," she says. "All these delegates having huge and fancy meals while so many people all around are starving. It just doesn't make sense. But I have to be here. Kofi Annan put me on his panel advising on sustainable development. So I can't avoid being here."
Also from her website:
...."Other UN Messengers of Peace include: Muhammad Ali, Vijay Amritraj, Anna Cataldi, Michael Douglas, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Enrico Macias, Wynton Marsalis, Luciano Pavarotti, and Elie Wiesel.....
You gotta admit, most of these UN "celebrities" aren't going to do much harm...in fact, don't you think?.. it's good news Kofi has such a frivolous streak.