Please note the following program change for BBC World Service for Tuesday, June 2 at 1700 ET.

BBC Special: The Elders Debate
a special program with Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson and Hina Jilani.

Founded in 2007 by Nelson Mandela, ‘The Elders’ are a group of the world’s elder statesmen who use their experience to advise on conflict resolution and human rights. Their most recent trip was to Moscow in April 2015 when 6 of them met with President Putin.

In this special program four of ‘The Elders’ answer questions from a studio audience on a range of topics including the rise of Islamic State, the future of Syria, Iraq, Russia and Ukraine, migration, women’s rights and climate change:

• Kofi Annan: Chair of ‘The Elders’, United Nations Secretary-General 1997-2006, Nobel Peace Laureate 2001, UN/Arab League Joint Special Envoy on the Syrian crisis 2012
• Jimmy Carter: 39th President of the USA 1977-1981, Nobel Peace Laureate 2002
• Mary Robinson: President of Ireland 1990-1997, appointed the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Change in 2014
• Hina Jilani: founded Pakistan’s first all-women law firm, advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since 1992, UN Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders 2000-2008

Presented by Matthew Amroliwala

Broadcast details: 

First aired: June 2, 2015
Program duration: 49 minutes 30 seconds (23 minutes & 26 minutes 30 seconds) or 59 minutes including News Bulletins, billboards & promos
Broadcast window: 2 – 9 June 2015
Number of episodes: 1
Download availability: from Tuesday 2 June 23:30 GMT for 7 days