FORMER TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has accepted an invitation from the World Economic Forum (WEF) to participate in a new global problem-solving organisation.
Mr Ahern yesterday confirmed that he will become a member of the Global Agenda Council on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution.
It is one of 68 such councils that have been established by the WEF as part of a new initiative to bring 700 participants together to suggest "10 breakthrough ideas for improving the state of the World".
Each council will have between 15 and 30 members, drawn from what the WEF describes as the "world's foremost thinkers" in their field.
While not all members of the agenda council on negotiation and conflict resolution have been named, others who will participate are former US president Jimmy Carter, former US senator George Mitchell, who played a central role in the Northern Ireland peace process, and another key player in the Northern process, former Finnish president, Maarti Ahtisaari.
The 700 participants involved in the 68 councils will meet for a three-day summit in Dubai in November, where they will share ideas and suggest solutions to global problems. The new summit is complementary to the forum's annual meeting - attended by world leaders in politics, business, and civil society - held in Davos, Switzerland, in January.
In a statement yesterday, Mr Ahern intimated that the invitation resulted from his long-standing involvement in the Northern peace process.
He said it was in recognition of his "contribution to peace building around the world, including his work on the achievement of the peace agreement in Northern Ireland".
Mr Ahern said that he was deeply honoured to be invited to participate. "It is my belief that there is still much to learn from the shared experiences and the difficulties that this small island has addressed and resolved throughout the year. I look forward to making a contribution."
He also said that the council with which he is involved consists of some of the most relevant personalities in the field of conflict resolution. "It will address many crucial challenges of humankind to ensure that relevant experiences on such issues are fully explored," he said.
A spokesman for the WEF said that the invitation was extended to Mr Ahern at the end of June but that it would not be formally announced until a vetting process has been completed. The vetting is standard for all 700 participants in the Dubai summit, he said.
The position is an honorary one and no salary or fee is paid. The spokesman said that participants were selected by invitation only on the basis that they were among the world's top authorities in the relevant topic area. According to the spokesman, there is a "comprehensive selection process for identifying and selecting the most relevant thought-leaders . . . Reviews and due diligence are conducted on each proposed candidate."
What is the WEF?
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss-based foundation which holds an annual meeting in Davos that is attended by some of the world's most prominent figures in politics, business, civil life, campaigns and thought.
Its annual meeting in Davos in Switzerland each January attracts huge media attention. It has been attended by high-profile world figures including Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Kofi Annan, Tony Blair, Shimon Peres, Yasser Arafat, Bill Clinton and Bono.
The WEF was established in 1971 by a Geneva-based business academic, Prof Klaus Schwab, who is still the head of the organisation.
Initially designed to bring together European business leaders, its role expanded in the 1970s when it started to invite politicians to its Davos meeting.
It describes itself as an independent body committed to improving the world by engaging leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.
At the meeting in Davos in 2002 for example, Bill Gates announced that his Gates Foundation would make a contribution of $50 million for Aids prevention in Africa. In 1994, Israel's Shimon Peres and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat reached a draft agreement on Gaza and Jericho at the Davos meeting.
The WEF has nonetheless attracted criticism. Its main 1,000 member companies are invited on the basis of annual revenues of over $1 billion, leading to claims that poorer countries are under-represented.
Non Government Organisations have been invited in recent years but some had their invitations withdrawn at later stages because of an incompatibility of views and outlook. The Davos meeting has been the subject of anti-globalisation protests in recent years.