From 600+ conversations with the world’s leading thinkers.
Three years ago, we were managing 20 cases, but today, that number has escalated to 70. Since our inception, we've dealt with nearly 500 cases. Hostage-taking is an ancient practice and will persist for a long time. This training initiative has developed significantly over recent years, ensuring proper care and attention are afforded to these cases.
I recently heard from a woman in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo who said, 'until I met the IRC, I didn't know that rape was a crime… I didn't know rape was even a word…' that was immensely powerful.
Here's the thing: if people really want to do something, all they need to do is meet someone who's built something from scratch to show them that it can be done by someone just like them.
People suffer from the curse of knowledge, they don't know what they don't know! All of us have different starting points, different assumptions and a different knowledge base.
For me, sports were a sanctuary, the only place where I felt at home, could connect with others, and navigate my life and pain. Providing sports opportunities to children, women, and men in these settings is vital. Our foundation aims to complement these efforts by introducing sports, emphasising not just participation in sports but also backing these athletes significantly.
Controlling strength takes a lifetime to learn – and young boys need to learn about physical strength, and how to employ it constructively not destructively. A male gorilla could easily kill a baby with his thumb but we see male adult gorillas playing gently, and tenderly with babies.
I'm a school drop-out that is now teaching professors and doctors around the world; all because of a naïve woman's wish for her child to live.
I believe, personally, that movies allow people to be taken places they can't get to on their own- be it travel, or culture, or learning. The arts are not just one, they are all connected- and movies have become a huge part of the arts.
As an entrepreneur, I got my education out in the world – real life learning is the way forward for young entrepreneurs. And this is what we must encourage and support.
You can't go through life in that negative frame of mind. Just go, see what happens… challenge it. It's better to go to University and have an education doing what you want, rather than what you don't.
We recently set ourselves the goal of educating 10 million children in the next decade; it's ambitious, but we're attracting incredible people and partners to help us on this journey, and I genuinely believe we'll achieve it.
When I say books can save us; books can be our dear friends, our amazing teachers, our loyal companions of the road, I really mean it, because it happened to me.