Kofi Annan, others announced as Counsellors at One Young World Summit

Former UN Secretary Generals Kofi Annan and Sir Richard Branson have been announced as Counsellors to 1,300 future leaders from over 185 countries attending the One Young World Summit 2013.

Other Counsellors for the One Young World Summit 2013 include, Sir Bob Geldof, activist and musician; Ahmed Kathrada, former political advisor to President Mandela; Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post, Muhammad Yunus, founder of The Grameen Bank and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Kathy Calvin, President and CEO, United Nations Foundation; Antony Jenkins, CEO of Barclays, Francois Pienaar, world-cup winning South Africa rugby union captain and Boris Becker, former tennis World No. 1.

These Counsellors will work with the exceptional young leaders to develop and drive tangible solutions to local, regional and global challenges across fields including political transparency, human rights, global business, health, sustainable development, education, leadership and governance.

Branson will attend the fourth annual summit, taking place in Johannesburg between October 2 – 5, where he will be joined by One Young World Counsellor and B Team co-founder, Jochen Zeitz, the former chief executive of Puma and current Director of Kering and chairman of the board's Sustainable Development Committee - in an interactive Q&A session with One Young World leaders.

In the session, a group of One Young World Ambassadors will present a New Charter for Business Leadership.

The B Team, launched in June this year, is an independent not-for-profit initiative that has been formed by a group of global business leaders to create a future where the purpose of business is to be a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit.

Richard Branson, said, “it will be a privilege to stand alongside these exceptional young leaders at the One Young World Summit 2013. “We created the B Team to develop and implement a Plan B for business that puts people and planet alongside profit. I am excited to listen to and learn from the young leaders at One Young World to ensure business becomes a force for good.”

David Jones, One Young World co-founder and Global CEO, Havas, said, “throughout his career Sir Richard Branson has been an amazing role model for responsible business, entrepreneurship and for mobilising business for social and environmental benefit. He started his foundation, Virgin Unite, on the belief the business can and must be a force for good in the world".

One Young World is a charity that stages an annual Summit, gathering together the brightest young people from around the world.

Now in its fourth year, One Young World has become the premier global forum for young people of leadership calibre.

Described by some as the 'junior Davos', One Young World stages an annual summit to gather 1,300 future leaders under the age of 30 from over 185 countries, alongside a distinguished line-up of Counsellors.

These world leaders stand alongside the young delegates to address what they see as the most pressing global issues today, key areas will include:

- Global Business - Youth Unemployment - Health - Human Rights - Leadership & governance - Sustainable Development - Transparency & integrity

One Young World Summit gives delegates the kind of media platform afforded ordinarily only to those who lead countries and corporations.