Scilla Elworthy
Encyclopedia
Oxford Research Group
Oxford Research Group is an independent non-governmental organisation and UK registered charity, which works together with others to promote a more sustainable approach to security for the UK and the world. In April 2005, ORG was named one of the top 20 think tanks in the UK by The Independent...
, a non-governmental organisation which seeks to develop effective dialogue between nuclear weapons policy-makers worldwide and their critics. She served as its executive director from 1982 until 2003, when she left that role in order to set up Peace Direct
Peace Direct
Peace Direct is a charity based in London, England which supports grassroots peacebuilders in areas of conflict. Peace Direct focuses on supporting grassroots peacebuilders who are local to the conflict and have a clear vision of what needs to be achieved. Peace Direct funds this work, promotes it...
, a charity supporting local peace-builders in conflict areas. From 2005 she was adviser to Peter Gabriel, Desmond Tutu and Richard Branson in setting up The Elders
The Elders
The Elders are a six-piece Irish American folk rock band, that formed in Kansas City, Missouri.The band has released six studio albums, The Elders, Pass It on Down, American Wake, Racing the Tide, Gael Day and Wanderin' Life & Times, as well as three live albums "The Best Crowd We Ever Had", "Live...
. She is a member of the World Future Council
World Future Council
The World Future Council is an independent body formally founded in Hamburg, Germany on 10 May 2007. "Formed to speak on behalf of policy solutions that serve the interests of future generations", it includes members active in governmental bodies, civil society, business, science and the arts...
and the International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy
International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy
The EastWest Institute established the multiyear International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy as the flagship of its Conflict Prevention Program in May 2007...
. She is also the author of several booksand the Director of Programmes for the World Peace Festival to be held in Berlin August 2011.
She has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
, and in 2003 she was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize
Niwano Peace Prize
Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those who are devoting themselves to interreligious cooperation in the cause of peace,and to make their achievements known...
for her work with the Oxford Research Group.
Education
She attended Berkhamsted School for GirlsBerkhamsted Collegiate School
Berkhamsted School is an independent school in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. The present school was formed in 1997 by the amalgamation of the original Berkhamsted School, founded in 1541 by John Incent, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, Berkhamsted School for Girls, established in 1888, and...
on a Herts County Scholarship before moving to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1962 to study social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
. During her vacations, she worked in refugee camps in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
. After graduating, she travelled round West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and between 1966 and 1969 became involved in marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
for various boutique
Boutique
A boutique is a small shopping outlet, especially one that specializes in elite and fashionable items such as clothing and jewelry. The word is French for "shop", via Latin from Greek ἀποθήκη , "storehouse"....
s, most notably introducing the Mary Quant
Mary Quant
Mary Quant OBE FCSD is a British] fashion designer and British fashion icon, who was instrumental in the mod fashion movement. She was one of the designers who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants. Born in Blackheath, London, to Welsh parents, Quant brought fun and fantasy to...
range. In 1993, she gained her PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Bradford University.
Personal life
In 1970, she married Murray McLean, a South African entrepreneur. She has one daughter, Polly Jess.Organizations and foundings
From 1970-1976 she chaired Kupugani, a South African nutrition education organisation, where she set up an initiative which involved the sale of nutritious Christmas hampers to industrial employees thereby providing annual self-financing for the charity of R6million.In 1976 she helped organise the building and launch of the Market Theatre, South Africa’s first multiracial theatre. Then in 1977 she established the Minority Rights Group in France and in 1978 she researched and delivered their report on female genital mutilation, leading to the World Health Organisation campaign to eradicate the practice. From 1979-81 she became a consultant on women’s issues to UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and it was during this time she researched and wrote UNESCO’s contribution to the 1980 United Nations Mid-decade Conference on Women: "The role of women in peace research, peace education and the improvement of relations between nations".
In 1982 she founded the Oxford Research Group
Oxford Research Group
Oxford Research Group is an independent non-governmental organisation and UK registered charity, which works together with others to promote a more sustainable approach to security for the UK and the world. In April 2005, ORG was named one of the top 20 think tanks in the UK by The Independent...
(ORG), an NGO which independently researches decision-making on security in the five major nuclear nations and brings together policy-makers, academics, the military and civil society to engage in dialogue. Elworthy has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for her work with ORG and in 2003 she was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize
Niwano Peace Prize
Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those who are devoting themselves to interreligious cooperation in the cause of peace,and to make their achievements known...
. She remained the executive director of ORG until 2003 and continues to be on their board of trustees.
In 2003 Elworthy stepped down as executive director of ORG in order to found a new charity, Peace Direct
Peace Direct
Peace Direct is a charity based in London, England which supports grassroots peacebuilders in areas of conflict. Peace Direct focuses on supporting grassroots peacebuilders who are local to the conflict and have a clear vision of what needs to be achieved. Peace Direct funds this work, promotes it...
, which supports local peace-builders in conflict areas. Peace Direct was named "Best New Charity" at the London Charity Awards2005 and, although she is not involved in the day to day running, Elworthy remains on the board of trustees.
In 2002 she launched a production at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
theatre in London entitled Transforming September 11th. In 2004 she provided the basic material for Max Stafford Clark's production of Talking to Terrorists at the Royal Court Theatre in London; and in 2007 her case study on the siege of Fallujah
Fallujah
Fallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries....
in Iraq was used as the basis for Jonathan Holmes' production of Fallujah at the Old Truman Brewery
Old Truman Brewery
The Old Truman Brewery is the former Black Eagle brewery complex located around Brick Lane in the Spitalfields area, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was established by the brewers Truman's which subsequently became Truman, Hanbury and Buxton...
in Brick Lane
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is a street in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. It runs from Swanfield Street in the northern part of Bethnal Green, crosses Bethnal Green Road, passes through Spitalfields and is linked to Whitechapel High Street to the south by the short stretch of...
.
The Elders
Although she has lectured extensively around the world and appeared on television and radio throughout the last 20 years, her work has been less in the public eye recently as she has been advising Richard BransonRichard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
, Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
and Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
on the creation of The Elders
The Elders
The Elders are a six-piece Irish American folk rock band, that formed in Kansas City, Missouri.The band has released six studio albums, The Elders, Pass It on Down, American Wake, Racing the Tide, Gael Day and Wanderin' Life & Times, as well as three live albums "The Best Crowd We Ever Had", "Live...
, "an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by Nelson Mandela, who offer their collective influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity."
Today
Elworthy lives in England and is a Councillor on the World Future CouncilWorld Future Council
The World Future Council is an independent body formally founded in Hamburg, Germany on 10 May 2007. "Formed to speak on behalf of policy solutions that serve the interests of future generations", it includes members active in governmental bodies, civil society, business, science and the arts...
, an independent international organisation, launched in 2004 and focussing on the key challenges facing global society today. They have a broad mandate and look to all the issues currently facing humanity and promote successful policies for a sustainable future.
In autumn 2007 she joined the EastWest Institute
EastWest Institute
The EastWest Institute , originally known as the Institute for East West Security Studies, is an international not-for-profit, non-partisan "think and do" tank focusing on international conflict resolution through a variety of means, including track 2 diplomacy and track 1.5 diplomacy , hosting...
's International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy
International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy
The EastWest Institute established the multiyear International Task Force on Preventive Diplomacy as the flagship of its Conflict Prevention Program in May 2007...
.
In 2009 joined the project "Soldiers of Peace", a movie against all wars and for a global peace.
Her work for the World Peace Festival in 2011 includes building seven achievable goals for the Global Peace Building Strategy, adopted by the World Peace Partnership. She and colleagues have produced ‘Tools for Peace’ - a seven step process anyone can use to resolve conflict in the family, workplace or community. Dr Elworthy is designing parts of the Festival programme, including a morning of workshops entitled “Self Knowledge and Global Responsibility” and a day conference on all programmes of the Global Peace Building Strategy, adopted by the World Peace Partnership.
Elworthy is also working on a course in consciousness and conflict transformation for mid career professionals, to be directed in association with Thomas Hübl, in Berlin, starting in late autumn 2011.
Publications
Elworthy has written, edited and contributed to myriad reports, articles and books including:- 1986 Editor: How Nuclear Weapons Decisions Are Madehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0312395302 (Macmillan, London)
- 1987 Author: Who Decides? Accountability and Nuclear Weapons Decision-Making in Britain, (Oxford Research Group).
- 1988 Producer: The Nuclear Weapons World: Who How and Wherehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0313265909, (Pinter Publishers, London).
- 1989 Author: Parliament, the Public and NATO’s Nuclear Weapons, (Oxford Research Group).
- 1990 Co-author: New Threats and New Responses: proposals for future security decision-making in Europe, (Oxford Research Group).
- 1991 Co-author: Defence and Security in the New Europe: Who will decide? (Oxford Research Group).
- 1992 Editor: International control of the Arms Trade (Oxford Research Group).
- 1996 Editor and contributor: Re-thinking Defence and Foreign Policy, (Spokesman Press, London).
- 1996 Author: ‘Power & Sex’http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1852309563 (Element Books)
- 1997 Editor: Proposals for a Nuclear Weapon-Free World – a meeting between China and the West (Oxford Research Group).
- 2001 Co-author: The United States, Europe and the Majority World after 11 September (Oxford Research Group).
- 2001 Producer: War Prevention Works: 51 case studies of people resolving conflicthttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/095113616X (Oxford Research Group, Oxford).
- 2002 Co-author: A Never-Ending War? Consequences of 11 September (Oxford Research Group).
- 2002 Co-author: The ‘War on Terrorism’: 12-month audit and future strategy options (Oxford Research Group).
- 2001 Co-author: 9/11: What Should We Do Now?http://www.opendemocracy.net/node/782 (Open Democracy).
- 2001 Author: Widening Atlantichttp://www.opendemocracy.net/node/207 (Open Democracy).
- 2002 Author: The Road Not Takenhttp://www.opendemocracy.net/node/551 (Open Democracy).
- 2003 Author: The crisis over Iraq: the non-military solutionhttp://www.opendemocracy.net/node/888 (Open Democracy).
- 2003 Author: Waiting For The Dawn: A Bagdad Diaryhttp://www.opendemocracy.net/node/885 (Open Democracy).
- 2003: Author: Iraq: A Way Out?http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-iraqwarquestions/article_929.jsp (Open Democracy).
- 2004 Author: Cutting the Costs of War: non-military prevention and resolution of conflict (Oxford Research Group).
- 2004 Author: Peacemaking At The Sharp End: Iraq Before & After Warhttp://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-iraqi_war/article_1793.jsp (Open Democracy).
- 2005 Author: Learning from Fallujah’s Agonyhttp://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-iraq/fallujah_2999.jsp (Open Democracy).
- 2005: Author: Tackling Terror By Winning Hearts & Mindshttp://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-terrorism/solution_2690.jsp (Open Democracy).
- 2005 Co-author: Hearts and Minds: human security approaches to political violencehttp://www.demos.co.uk/publications/heartsandminds (Demos, London).
- 2006: Author: If Diplomacy Failshttp://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-iran_war/iran_crisis_3528.jsp (Open Democracy).
- 2006 Co-author: Making Terrorism Historyhttp://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1846040477 (Random House, London).
- 2009 Co-author: Soul Power (BookSurge).
- 2010 Tools For Peace.
The reports produced by the Oxford Research Group are available from their website or, for the older reports, by contacting them directly.