Six-year-old Ruhmam Issah cries as ahealth worker slowly removes a long,spaghetti-like worm from her swollen

ankle. Beside Issah, here in dusty Savelugu,Ghana, is former U.S. President JimmyCarter, providing comfort to the girl by way of gentle pats and kind words.President Carter and his wife, Rosalynn,visited the hospital in northern Ghanawhere Issah was beingtreated to meet withdozens of Guinea worm disease patientsreceiving care in anational effort to eradicate the disease by this time next year.

The hospital visitwas part of a 16-day tourof Africa to bring globalattention to Guineaworm disease and otherneglected diseases thatThe Carter Center isworking to control. TheCarters and a delegationof Center officials visitedremote communities infour countries: Ghana,Sudan, Ethiopia, andNigeria.

GhanaIn Ghana, President Carter met withPresident John Agyekum Kufuor to discussthe country’s continued efforts to eradicateGuinea worm disease. Ghana is the second-most endemic country in the world, trailingonly war-torn Sudan. Nearly half of affect-ed Ghanaians are children younger thanage 15 such as Issah, who is temporarilydebilitated by the excruciating pain causedby the exiting worm.

SudanFollowing his visit to Ghana, PresidentCarter met Lions Clubs InternationalPresident Jimmy Ross in Sudan to encour-age local community leaders to participatein the fight against two blinding diseasesaffecting the country—river blindness andtrachoma. In partnership with Lions Clubs

International, The Carter Center has beenhelping to eliminate river blindness andcontrol trachoma for more than a decade.

EthiopiaIn Ethiopia, President Carter attended the Feb. 13 opening meeting of theEthiopia Public Health Training InitiativeReplication Conference in Addis Ababa.The conference, the first of its kind, illustrated the success that the CarterCenter-assisted public health training hashad in helping Ethiopia meet the growingneed for trained health care workers in the country.

Africa Tour Turns Spotlighton Fight Against Disease

THECARTERCENTER

NEWSSPRING 2007

One Copenhill453 Freedom ParkwayAtlanta, GA 30307

(404) 420-5100www.cartercenter.org

IN THIS ISSUEUP FRONT

Africa Tour Spotlights Disease . . . . . . . 1Center Goal: Help People

Help Themselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

PEACENepal Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Latin American Elections . . . . . . . . . . . 4Profile: David Carroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

HEALTHNew Malaria Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62006 Guinea Worm Report . . . . . . . . . 7

ANNIVERSARYInterview with President and

Mrs. Carter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PHILANTHROPYGuinea Worm Challenge Complete . . 11United Kingdom Support . . . . . . . . . . 11

NEWS BRIEFSAnniversary Exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Symposium on Katrina . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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President and Mrs. Carter give a bed net, which preventsmalaria, to a woman in Ethiopia. The Carters visited fourAfrican countries in February to bring attention to theCenter’s work to fight disease on the continent.

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The Carter Center prepares to observe historic elections

in Nepal later this year.Read more on p. 3.

UP FRONT

One of the goals of The CarterCenter is to provide skills, knowl-edge, and resources to empower

people to improve their own lives and thelives of their countrymen. The Center’ssuccess lies in the hard work of people like our village volunteers who monitor

outbreaks of disease and provide healtheducation and treatment within their communities, human rights defenders who openly challenge the injustices theywitness in their countries, and everyday citizens who bravely cast their first votes toensure that their leaders are fairly elected.

Through grassroots efforts, The CarterCenter helps build democratic culture incountries adapting to postelection environ-ments. In Liberia, for example, the Centerworks with local organizations in ruralareas to foster community discussions aboutstatutory law and human rights. Liberiansbelonging to women’s groups, religiousassemblies, and cultural organizations workto inform their constituents about basichuman rights and the rights provided tothem through local legislation and judicialpractices. Through public education andawareness, these community leaders arestrengthening their society by buildingunderstanding of civil liberties and instill-ing trust in local government.

Likewise, the Center is helpingAfrican countries learn how they canstrengthen their own public health systems.In February, ministers of health and minis-ters of education from nine African nations

assembled in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, tolearn how the Carter Center’s EthiopiaPublic Health Training Initiative has trans-formed public health education in thecountry.

The conference represented a cul-mination of 10 years of close collaborationbetween Ethiopia’s ministry of health, min-istry of education, and seven universities.Ethiopia’s government officials and faculty,together, with the support of The CarterCenter and other partners, developedworkshops and curricula to specificallyaddress the country’s life-threatening illnesses. The result is a public health education system specifically prepared byEthiopians for Ethiopia. Now the countryfinds itself in a position to demonstrate itsunique approach to other African nationsand encourage them to participate in anopen dialogue about how they too canimprove their health care systems based on local experience.

The dedication and diligence of people changing their communities for thebetter sustains the Center’s work aroundthe world. Through our peace and healthprograms, we strive to help people providetheir families with a legacy of hope.

From Dr. John Hardman, President and CEO

Center Goal: Help People Help Themselves

Dr. John Hardman

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In Afeta, Ethiopia, millions of peoplein remote areas are receiving insecticide-treated long-lasting bed nets to protecttheir families from malaria. The bed netdistribution is part of a new Carter Centerinitiative to provide 3 million bed nets toEthiopia’s malaria program.

NigeriaIn the community of Nasarawa North,Nigeria, President Carter and Nigeria for-mer Head of State General Yakubu Gowon,a champion for health care advocacy in hishome country, watched as schoolchildren

received drug treatment forschistosomiasis, a silent anddestructive parasitic infectionthat leads to poor growth andimpaired learning. The CarterCenter works with the NigeriaMinistry of Health to providehealth education and drug treatment annually to thousandsof people at risk of infection.During the visit, President Cartermet with Nigeria PresidentOlusegun Aremu Obasanjo torequest further governmental support to help Carter Center-assisted programs combat schisto-somiasis and other diseases.

Africa Tourcontinued from cover page

A health worker takes the blood pressure of apatient at Dukiem Health Center near AddisAbaba, Ethiopia. Attendees of the Ethiopia PublicHealth Training Initiative Replication Conferencevisited two health centers and university facilities.

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disarmament of the Maoists to be moni-tored by the United Nations, establishmentof an interim parliament, formation of aninterim government to include the Maoists,and, finally, elections to a constituentassembly in 2007. The assembly will thenhave two years to write a new constitutionfor the country.

The Carter Center was invited by all political parties to observe the electoralpreparations and processes for the constituent assembly elections and openeda small field office in Kathmandu, the capital, in January 2007.

“We are closely monitoring and reporting on electoral, political, and security conditions in Nepal,” said DavidPottie, associate director of the CarterCenter’s Democracy Program. “As theprocess develops, our long- and short-termobservers will assess the processes surround-ing the constituent assembly elections andprovide periodic public reports.”

Several key steps in the peace processhave been taken, including promulgationof the interim constitution, formation ofthe interim parliament, disarmament ofMaoist fighters, and deployment of U.N.

Since 1997, life in Nepal has beenfilled with violence and civilupheaval due to fighting between

Maoist rebels and forces loyal to Nepal’sgovernment and the monarchy. Aftergroups reached a peace agreement inNovember 2006, intense political changesbegan. The Carter Center is now activelyworking there to support the consolidationof peace and democracy through a long-term election monitoring program.

The peace agreement calls for the creation of an interim constitution,

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arms monitors to guard locked storehousesof the Maoists’ weapons. However, thereare several critical challenges impeding further progress, including intraparty vio-lence, mass protests, and traffic blockadesorganized by various marginalized groupsdemanding greater participation in politicalnegotiations, and other problems. Electionsare currently scheduled for November2007.

Carter Center field staff recently witnessed the effects of such conflicts inBiratnagar, a major city along the borderwith India, where blockades organized by

the Madheshi Peoples Rights Forum hadshut down traffic and most businesses.Participation of international observerorganizations is important in such anunstable environment, particularly organizations that are respected across the political landscape.

“Expectations of how quickly electionscan occur may be a little unrealistic,” saidPottie. “The Carter Center may be in aposition to help defuse tensions and removepotential roadblocks along the way.”

After training and orientation inKathmandu in early March, the Center’slong-term observers were deployed to commence formal observation in fiveregional centers around the country. Closer to the elections, teams of short-termobservers will arrive to monitor events surrounding election day.

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PEACE

Nepal Prepares to ElectInterim National Assembly

Nepal at a Glance

Nepal is a small, landlocked country located between India

and the Tibetan region of China.About the size of Arkansas, the countryhas a population of more than 28 mil-lion people speaking more than a dozenlanguages and 100 dialects. English iswidely understood in urban areas andamong the elite in society. Most of thepopulation is Hindu, with other minorreligions including Buddhism, Islam,and Kirant. Most Nepalis depend onagriculture, and more than 31 percentof the population lives in poverty.Nepal has spectacular scenery and isthe location of the world’s highestmountain, Mount Everest.

The country recently emergedfrom a decade-long rebellion betweenMaoist rebels and the constitutionalmonarchy. The U.N. reports that12,000 people died and more than100,000 people were displaced in thefighting. King Gyanendra ended hisdirect rule in April 2006 after weeks of demonstrations calling for him tostep down. In November 2006, a peacedeal was struck, and in early 2007, theMaoists joined the interim government.

Nepal’s political parties’ leaders, activists, and supporters participate in a rally inKathmandu in November 2006 to celebrate the end of a violent 10-year insurgency.

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PEACE

From analyzing new voting technolo-gies in Venezuela to continuing long-term democratic commitment in

Nicaragua, the Carter Center’s Democracyand Americas programs are engaged inhelping countries build strong democraciesin Latin America.

In VenezuelaThe Carter Center deployed a small, targeted, technical mission to Venezuela forits December 2006 national elections toconduct an initial field test of the Center’sdraft observation methodology for electron-ic voting technologies. The methodology is part of the Center’s project to developstandards for democratic elections.

Ten observers, including two technicaladvisers, were deployed in teams of two topolling stations around Caracas on electionday following a day of briefings. Pairsobserved poll opening procedures, includingthe setup of voting machines, voting opera-tions, and poll closing and the transmissionof results. Carter Center observers werepresent as poll workers manually recountedthe paper ballot receiptsfrom the votingmachines.

The emergence of electronic votingtechnologies poses newchallenges to electionobservers—being ableto visually verify thatthe secrecy of the ballotis not compromised,that the ballot castreflects the intent of thevoter, and that votes arebeing properly countedand aggregated.

“Observers mustdevelop methods to discern whether thefundamental rights of

citizens to vote and to have their votesaccurately counted are being upheld,” saidDr. David Carroll, director of the CarterCenter’s Democracy Program. “This meansthat observers must have more developedtechnical skills, must understand the intricacies of the electronic systems, andmust be armed with questions that, whenanswered, will allow the Center to reachconclusions about the conduct and qualityof the electoral process.”

The Carter Center is at the forefrontof efforts to develop a new observationmethodology that will help the field as a whole adapt to the use of these new technologies.

“Electronic voting technologies areincreasingly popular because they have thepotential to increase the accuracy of elec-tion results,” said Avery Davis-Roberts,program associate for the DemocracyProgram. “But the lack of transparencyregarding what happens within the votingmachine can undermine public confidencein the entire electoral process.”

As new electoral technologies evolve,

it is essential for organizations like TheCarter Center to develop these innovativetools to sustain the field of internationalelection observation.

In NicaraguaA Carter Center international observationdelegation found Nicaragua’s 2006 presi-dential election climate to be competitiveand the election administration to be adequate with significant improvementsover past electoral processes.

This was the fourth national electionthat The Carter Center observed inNicaragua since 1990. Delegation leadersnoted the development of Nicaraguandemocracy across time—from a decade ofrevolutionary civil conflict to an emergingdemocracy swinging between extreme partyfragmentation in 1996 to a restrictive two-party dominant system prior to the 2001elections. The 2006 elections saw fivepolitical parties competing energetically ina campaign free of violence.

The Carter Center deployed 62observers who visited 412 polling stationson election day. The delegation was co-ledby former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, for-mer Panama President Ardito Barletta, andformer Peru President Alejandro Toledo.

The Carter Center remains engaged in Nicaragua through postelectoral reform

efforts and an access-to-information initiative. In May, the Center willhold a joint seminar withthe National DemocraticInstitute to present itselection report and thoseof domestic observers and also will encourageelection reform throughpanels related to reportrecommendations.

Reports from theVenezuela and Nicaraguaelection missions will beposted on the CarterCenter Web site(www.cartercenter.org).

Center Observes Elections in Venezuela, Nicaragua

Former Peru President Alejandro Toledo and Jennifer McCoy, director of theCarter Center’s Americas Program, examine a voter’s ID document.

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Americas Program just twoyears after the Center beganits pioneering work in moni-toring elections. He’d recent-ly completed his doctorate ininternational relations andLatin American studies andsoon found himself on a smallplane bound for the interiorof Guyana. Carroll was towitness the country’s firstdemocratic election as itunfolded in a mining village.

“The Carter Center wasjust developing its reputationas a leader in this field,” hesaid. “In some of our early

missions—as in my first election experi-ence in Guyana—we werestill refining our approach.But we knew enough tospot potential fraud.”When problems with theGuyana voters list surfaced, The CarterCenter team gave theauthorities a choice: Fixthe list or we leave. Thelist was corrected, and theelection went ahead—without any fraud.

“Our main jobs arereassuring voters that theycan safely cast their ballotsand detecting electoralfraud,” said Carroll, whomoved to the newly creat-ed Democracy Program in1997, when The CarterCenter created a programspecifically dedicated tosupporting fledglingdemocracies. “We’vebecome better at it, but so

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PEACE

When Liberia’sfirst female president

won in 2005, her oppo-nent charged that theelection results weretainted. But CarterCenter DemocracyProgram Director DavidCarroll knew otherwise.

“It was a model of afree and fair election,”said Carroll, who hasobserved some 25 elec-tions around the worldduring his 16 years atThe Carter Center.“Now, for the first time in 25 years, Liberiais poised to change the course of its historybecause it has a new president elected fairlyand within the framework of a broadlyaccepted peace accord. But it’s also a country with many needs, and the roadahead will be hard.”

Because Carroll and others from TheCarter Center witnessed the election ofPresident Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Liberiareceived a much-needed boost at thebeginning of that road. “Our presencehelped give legitimacy to the new government and the democratic process in Liberia,” said Carroll, noting that this is one of the many benefits youngdemocracies receive by inviting The Carter Center to observe their elections.

The benefits flow both ways. ForCarroll, his role as an election observer anddirector of the Democracy Program fulfillsa lifelong dream “to be involved in makingthe world a better place. That may soundhokey,” said Carroll, “but I found an unparalleled opportunity to do that here.”

Carroll arrived at The Carter Centerin 1991 as the assistant director of the

have those who try to rig elections. Wehave to constantly improve our observationtechniques.”

“Watching a country successfullystart down the road to democracyis an inspirational experience.”

And that has meant expanding theamount of work election observers do bothbefore and after elections. Months before-hand, Carroll and his staff visit the countryto learn in depth about everything from itselection laws to voter registration methodsand media outlets. Afterward, they watchthe tabulation and reporting of results andformal resolution of disputes about the vote.

“True democracy involves more thanholding one free election,” said Carroll.“But watching a country successfully startdown the road to true participatory democ-racy is an inspirational experience—andmy biggest reward.”

Profile: David Carroll

Director Finds Satisfaction inHelping Struggling Democracies

David Carroll (left) records observations about a Liberiapolling site in 1997. Eight years later, as the countryemerged from years of civil war, he returned to Liberia toobserve the presidential elections once again.

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David Carroll, director ofthe Democracy Program

But soon after, The Carter Centerbegan distributing the drug Mectizan®,which prevents the disease and evenreverses its effects, in his village of Afeta.Today, Tesfaye surveys his land from behindhis two brown oxen as he plows his fields.

HEALTH

Ethiopian farmer Mamo Tesfaye is nostranger to disease. Four years ago, he could only sit idly outside his

home as the growing season came andwent. Afflicted with river blindness, hecould not see well enough to work his land or provide for his children.

New Malaria Program BlanketsAreas of Ethiopia with Bed Nets

But as most Ethiopians know, survivingone disease is no insurance against others,and in this country, the biggest threat ismalaria. Spread by mosquitoes, malaria isthe single largest killer in Ethiopia, andunlike most African countries where chil-dren are most vulnerable, the epidemicnature of the disease in Ethiopia does notdiscriminate by age. Both young and oldare stricken.

Building on an established network ofcommunity-based health care in Ethiopiathat treats river blindness and trachoma,The Carter Center has launched a programto combat malaria by distributing long-lasting insecticidal bed nets free of

Mamo Tesfaye’s four children sleep under insecticide-treated nets to prevent bites frommalaria-infected mosquitoes.

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Mamo Tesfaye farms his land in malaria-endemic Ethiopia.

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The Carter CenterMalaria Control ProgramDisease Prevalence: Each year, malariakills more than 1 million people, mostly children in Africa, with 350 to500 million cases reported worldwide.Approximately 90 percent of all casesof malaria are in Africa, where onechild in 10 dies before the age of 5.

Symptoms: Patients with severe malaria typically are very sick withintense headache, high fevers, and anemia, which sometimes lead to convulsions, rigor, and coma. Deathmay occur within 48 hours of onset ofsymptoms if not promptly treated.

Program Action: Distribution of long-lasting insecticidal bed nets, community health education, and follow-up surveys to monitor bed netusage and disease prevalence

Cost-Effectiveness and Sustainability:This program capitalizes on theCenter’s established village-basedhealth care delivery infrastructure—merging resources, personnel, healtheducation, and treatment for severaldiseases into one delivery system. This provides an efficient means fordistributing bed nets and preventingmalaria now.

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In February 2007, 6-year-old SadiaMesuna wore bandages on both of herfeet. These dressings protected the

wounds on her feet where Guinea wormshad exited her body. The girl was notalone. She was one of 20 children at aGuinea worm case containment center in northern Ghana receiving treatmentduring a community outbreak of the disease early this year.

The outbreak occurred when a majorwater pump in the city of Tamale broke in 2006 and people in the smaller town ofSavelugu, where Sadia lives, were forced to get drinking water from the local dam—water that had not been filtered and thatwas contaminated with Guinea worm larvae. One year later, which is the incuba-tion period for Guinea worm, the people of

Savelugu faced an outbreak unlike any they had seen in quite some time.

As the Guinea worm eradication campaign tackles the last remaining casesof the disease in the world, challenges likethis are expected. But for every challenge,more successes can be found. Of the ninecountries where the disease is still endemic,several sit on the brink of elimination:Togo, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso,and Ethiopia. It is possible that all of thesecountries may have seen their last case ofGuinea worm disease.

As the number of cases in all of thesecountries drops, The Carter Center and itspartners are zeroing in on the two countriesthat account for 98 percent of all cases—Sudan and Ghana. Sudan reported 5,569cases of Guinea worm disease in 2005 but 20,582 in 2006. The increase in cases was due largely to new areas of access in southern Sudan following a peace agreement in January 2005 thatended more than 10 years of civil war. In other words, health workers are now discovering endemic villages that wereonce inaccessible due to the war.

Elimination in Ghana continues to bea challenge; reported cases in the countryin 2006 were up 4 percent. In response, theGhana Ministry of Health, in partnershipwith The Carter Center, has increased dis-ease surveillance and prevention measuresin the northern part of the country throughthe construction of new case containmentcenters and strong public health messagesabout Guinea worm prevention.

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HEALTH

Guinea Worm Fight Faces FinalChallenges in Sudan, Ghana

0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000

20,582 (4,2)4,136 (4,2)

329 (4,6)110 (6,2)29 (0,4)

16 (3)5 (2,0)5 (0,2)3 (2,2)

MaliNigerTogo

SudanGhana

Nigeria

Burkina FasoEthiopia

Cote d’Ivoire

DISTRIBUTION BY COUNTRY OF 25,217 CASESOF DRACUNCULIASIS REPORTED DURING 2006

Number of Cases

Numbers in parentheses indicate the numberof cases exported to and imported from othercountries, respectively. Two of the four casesexported by Sudan in 2006 were found inUganda, which is no longer an endemiccountry and not shown on the graph.

To date, 11 countries have stopped Guinea worm transmission: Benin, 2004; Mauritania,2004; Uganda, 2003; Central African Republic, 2001; Chad, 1998; Cameroon, 1997;Yemen, 1997; Senegal, 1997; India, 1996; Kenya, 1994; Pakistan, 1993.

charge to all members of designated at-riskcommunities. The program will work inconjunction with the national malaria control program in the country.

The infected mosquitoes that transmitmalaria bite only at night, which is whybed nets are crucial for preventing the disease. Hung over sleeping areas andtucked under the mattress, the nets aremade from insecticidal fabric that kill biting insects that land on it as they

Malaria Programcontinued from previous page attempt to bite the sleeper below. These

nets use the most current technologicalinnovations in textile development; theinsecticide is incorporated into the fibersand will remain effective for an estimatedfive to seven years. This compares favor-ably to the nets of the past that only hadinsecticide on their surface and needed tobe retreated annually. The long-lasting netspromise a more sustainable solution tomalaria control than ever before.

In Ethiopia, The Carter Center haspurchased 3 million bed nets, and in thezone where Tesfaye’s village of Afeta islocated, the Center has already distributed

more than 300,000 nets to families at riskfor malaria. The program expects nets tohang in every household in the area by this July.

Tesfaye eagerly received a net inFebruary. After receiving instruction onhow to use it properly, he brought thepackage home and carefully hung the blue netting over the mat where his fouryoung sons sleep each night. This season,Tesfaye will plow his fields with two fewerworries—he has conquered river blindness,and his children are protected fromEthiopia’s single largest threat.

What have you tried to accomplishthrough The Carter Center in yourpost-presidency? President Carter: When Rosalynn and I left the White House, much workremained to achieve the dreams we had forfurthering human rights and peace world-wide. We believed our influence and rela-tionships with world leaders could be usedto build partnerships to continue makingprogress toward these goals. Self-govern-ance, freedom from political persecution,adequate food, and access to health care—these rights give people self-respect, humandignity, and hope for the future. Withoutthem, we will never see a world at peace.

ANNIVERSARY

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The Carter Center celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2007. In this specialfeature, the former President and former First Lady reflect on the Center’saccomplishments and discuss their hopes for the future.

Interview with President and Mrs. Carter

Human Rights, Dignity at Heartof Carters’ Vision for Center

How has The Carter Center grownsince it was founded in 1982? President Carter: My original vision wasthat the Center would be a small andsecluded place, like Camp David, where wecould resolve existing or potential conflictsamong nations or between adversarieswithin a country. We later found that oneof the best ways to promote peace is to letpeople choose their own leaders. Wehelped pioneer the field of election moni-toring and have observed more than 67elections in troubled countries struggling to achieve democracy, then, after elections,worked with them to strengthen publicinstitutions to protect new freedoms.Another area we did not anticipate washaving programs to alleviate unnecessarysuffering from preventable diseases andhunger. These are also critical to prevent-ing conflict and achieving the dream of aworld at peace. What has evolved is anarray of programs advancing human rights.

Mrs. Carter: The Carter Center has devel-oped into an organization that is trusted.People feel that the Center is an honestbroker and really cares about them. Theywill unburden their problems, and we try tohelp them. This fulfilling role for us and forthe Center is something we never couldhave imagined when we first came home

President and Mrs. Carter in Ethiopia

Liberians wait in long lines to vote in 1997.

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affliction. In this village of 500, half of thepeople were lying under trees around thetown square. One of the first people I saw,and one who sticks in my mind and in myheart, was a beautiful young woman about19 years old. When I approached her, Ithought she was holding a baby in herarms. But when I got closer, I found shewas holding in her arm her right breast,

which was horribly swollen. The Guineaworm was coming out of the nipple, andshe was stricken with intense pain, whichshe tried to conceal while I was there. Ihad to control my tears. Of 3.5 millioncases of Guinea worm when we began the eradication campaign in 1986, todayabout 25,000 remain.

from the White House thinking we wouldbe bored to death the rest of our lives. TheCenter truly has become a permanent forcefor positive change in the world.

Can you give real-life examples of howThe Carter Center improves lives? Mrs. Carter: Election day in a country thathas never had an election before is soexciting. I remember going to Liberia foran election after they had been at war formany years. Early in the morning, we wentto watch the preparation for polls to open.It was still dark when we arrived, and votersalready were in long snaking lines—women with babies on their backs or slungaround their chests. It was drizzling rain,and some told us they had been there forhours waiting for the polls to open. Theyhad waited many years to vote—what werea few more hours? So I went down one lineasking them why they came out so early tovote, and the answer was “peace.” Theywanted peace. It made me cry.

President Carter: In 1988, I visited a village in Ghana not far from the capital,Accra. The people drank water from whatwe would call a mud hole, a little pondthat fills up during the rainy season. Theydidn’t realize this was the source of their

A Ghanaian woman filters Guinea worm larvae out of drinking water in 2004.

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In 1994, President Carter traveled to North Korea for talks with Kim Il Sung. The tripresulted in renewed dialogue between the United States and North Korea.

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A woman pours maize in Ghana, one of 15 African countries where the CarterCenter’s Agriculture Program has worked.

ANNIVERSARY

organization can be highly effective. I believewe also have shown that,although it’s not easy, we can cross the chasmbetween the rich andpoor on earth. Potentialdonors have come to seethat people in Africa andother distant regionsdeserve our help. Theyhave proven in thou-sands of cases that with a little bit of help andguidance, with the righttools and knowledge,they can be empowered to overcome their ownproblems.

Although it’snot easy, we

can cross the chasm

between the rich and poor

on earth.

What is your vision for The CarterCenter in the future? Mrs. Carter: We have made very carefulplans about the future of The CarterCenter. We have raised an endowment tohelp finance the Center when Jimmy and I will no longer actively raise funds. Wealso have formed a partnership with EmoryUniversity, so that the activism of TheCarter Center in 65 nations will be sup-ported and enhanced by the academic and research base of a great university. Inaddition, several councils of world leadersat the Center are in place to sustain theCenter’s access to leaders at the highestlevels in each region where we work.

President Carter: In my Nobel Peace Prizelecture, I quoted my high school teacher,Ms. Julia Coleman, who said that we mustaccommodate changing times but cling to unchanging principles. That’s been anepigrammatic description of the philosophythat has permeated The Carter Center andmy own life. I hope we always will stay onthe cutting edge of technology and knowl-edge and medicines but try to adhere tobasic principles of morality and honestyand integrity and peace and justice andrespect of human life. And, I hope that asan organization, we will never let the fearof failure be an excuse for not trying.

What do you think has been thegreatest accomplishment of TheCarter Center so far?Mrs. Carter: All of our projects are important, so it’s difficult to choose. I guess the year that Jimmy and The CarterCenter prevented two wars, one in Haitiand one in North Korea, is especially mem-orable. It’s also thrilling to see the impactof our disease control work in the field. Justas when someone casts a first ballot, youcan really see lives being changed by thiswork. I’m also grateful for the progresswe’ve made in helping to diminish the stigma against mental illness. Our journal-ism fellowships truly are helping to increaseunderstanding and destroy myths aboutmental illnesses.

President Carter: I think we have demon-strated that a very small, nongovernmental

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A health worker measures a child in Uganda in 2002 to determine proper dosage of Mectizan®, the medicine thatfights river blindness.

An election official shows a completed ballot during the counting process of the 1999Indonesian elections.

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ANNIVERSARY

Two years ago, the Gates Foundationgave the Center $5 million outright andpledged to match dollar for dollar all con-tributions to the Guinea worm eradicationcampaign up to $20 million. Carter Centerdonors wasted no time in rising to the

challenge, donating the fundsneeded to complete the grantin just two years. The chal-lenge was fulfilled 16 monthsahead of the deadline.

The final contribution of $1 million was given bythe Howard G. BuffettFoundation to the SudanGuinea worm program. Sudanis the most endemic countryin the world for the diseasewith more than 20,000reported cases last year.

An estimated $35 million is still needed to complete the eradication of the disease in the nineAfrican countries where it is still found.

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In the quest to eradicate a disease, the last casesare always the most

expensive to eliminate.Although victims becomefew and far between, entirecountries must still betightly monitored to pre-vent outbreaks and set-backs.

With the early completion of a challengegrant from the Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation,Carter Center donors haveshown their commitment to eliminating the last25,000 cases of Guineaworm disease left in the world.

National elections in Nepal are notscheduled until November 2007,but The Carter Center has already

sent long-term election observers into thefield to monitor pre-election activities,such as campaigning and voter registration,thanks to an initial grant from the UnitedKingdom. The pre-election period plays animportant role in the Center’s assessmentof the overall fairness of elections, so theU.K. grant was crucial for getting observersto Nepal early.

The United Kingdom also supportedthe Carter Center’s election work in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo in July 2006, serving as the major donor forthe project and helping obtain the supportof other donors. In addition, the UnitedKingdom recently supported an election

Donors Complete GatesGuinea Worm Challenge

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A health worker in Savelugu, Ghana, treats a girl who has a Guineaworm emerging from her foot.

United Kingdom SupportsElections in Asia, Africa

monitoring mission in Nicaragua.As The Carter Center and the U.K.

Department for International Aid worktogether to help builddemocracy through free and fair elections, the twoorganizations have becomestrategic partners. Whilesupport from the U.K. has enabled the Center tomonitor several elections,the same projects aid theUnited Kingdom agency inits goal to fight poverty in the developing world byhelping countries buildstronger, democratic governments accountable to their citizens.

Another area of partnership is conflictresolution. Grant support from the U.K.agency’s Conflict and Humanitarian Fundhas allowed the Center to apply innovativenew approaches to strengthen its conflictresolution work, while the Center shareslessons learned and best practices with the United Kingdom and the inter-national community.

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An election worker shows a voter where to place histhumbprint to show he has voted in the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo in July 2006.

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NEWS BRIEFS

THE CARTER CENTER

THE CARTER CENTER

“Beyond the Presidency: 25 Years of The Carter Center,” a specialexhibit at the Jimmy Carter

Library and Museum June 30 through Nov.25, 2007, will give visitors a look behindthe scenes and on the front-lines of organizational effortsundertaken to advancepeace, health, and hopeworldwide since 1982.

The exhibit tells storiesof individual triumph andprogress in communities inthe 65 nations where theCenter has worked, underthe leadership of Presidentand Mrs. Carter, to improve

lives by advancing human rights and alleviating suffering.

“Visitors will see a vision of how tobuild a more peaceful world,” said JayHakes, director of the Museum. “It can beboth a teaching tool for students and aninspiration for families seeking values ofglobal citizenship and humanitarianism.”

Artifacts from around the world and rare photos illustrate milestones that include:

• leading a coalition that has reduced incidences of Guinea worm disease froman estimated 3.5 million in 1986 toabout 25,000 today, making it likely to

be the first diseasesince smallpox to be eradicated

• observing more than 67 elections in 26 countries to help establish and strengthendemocracies

• teaching techniquesthat have helpedmore than 8 millionsmall-scale farmers in15 African nations todouble or triple grainproduction

• furthering avenues topeace in Ethiopia,Eritrea, Liberia,Sudan, Uganda, the

Korean Peninsula, Haiti, and Bosnia andHerzegovina

• helping to establish a village-basedhealth care delivery system in thousandsof communities in Africa that now havetrained health care personnel and volun-teers to distribute drugs and providehealth education

• strengthening international standards for human rights and the voices of individuals defending those rights intheir communities worldwide

• advancing efforts to improve mentalhealth care and diminish the stigmaagainst people with mental illness.

ExhibitCommemoratesCenter’s 25thAnniversary

A man in Shidong, China,votes for village leaders.The upcoming CarterCenter exhibit at the JimmyCarter Library and Museumshows how China villageleaders are elected.

Symposium Revisits Katrina

Giving residents a sense of normalcyis one of the keys to the mentalhealth of a community post-disas-

ter, according to experts who participatedin the 22nd annual Rosalynn CarterMental Health Symposium: “DisasterMental Health in the Wake of HurricaneKatrina” held last November. More than200 people attended the two-day meeting,designed for leaders in the mental healthcommunity nationwide to share ideas andexperiences about working with people

affected by man-made and natural disasters.Participants agreed many steps can

be taken to ensure better psychologicaloutcomes for people affected by disasters.Any national plans must include mentalhealth as part of overall medical care forvictims and rescuers. Sometimes, victimsonly need someone to listen. Finally, finding small ways to return life to the way it was, such as opening schools, helps residents cope and rebuild.

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