11 December 2013: Tributes poured in from around the world as news spread that former South African President, anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela had passed away on 5 December, at the age of 95. At the UN in New York, a General Assembly (GA) meeting was convened in honor of Mandela, where President of the General Assembly (PGA) John Ashe said that Mandela “embodied the highest values of our United Nations,” and “demonstrated the difference one person can make in the face of adversity, oppression and prejudice” while maintaining “humility, humor and modesty that is so rare amongst people of his stature.” Ashe said the UN family would continue to honor Mandela’s legacy on 18 July, the day designated by the GA as Nelson Mandela International Day, and that the best tribute would be to “embrace his ideals, values and conviction.”

UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said the UN flag was lowered in New York and at all UN duty stations around the world in Mandela’s honor. He emphasized that the “most impressive of Mandela’s gifts was his power of forgiveness, his ability to overcome bitterness and hatred,” and that his whole life had been a tribute to human dignity and to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the 10 December memorial to Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa, where many Heads of State and Government, other dignitaries, celebrities and tens of thousands of citizens descended for the event. Ban said that no one did more to advance the values and aspirations of the UN, and that in the fight against apartheid, the UN “stood side-by-side with Nelson Mandela and all those in South Africa who faced unrelenting racism and discrimination.” Ban underscored that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission established under his leadership “remains a model for achieving justice in societies confronting a legacy of human rights abuses.” [Statement of PGA Ashe] [Statement of the Deputy Secretary-General] [Secretary-General’s Statement on the Death of Nelson Mandela] [Secretary-General’s Statement at the Memorial]