Scilla Elworthy - Organizations

Organizations

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 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 (ORG) an NGO which independently researched decision-making on security in the five major nuclear nations during and after the Cold War and brought together policy-makers, academics, the military and civil society to engage in dialogue. Elworthy has been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with ORG and in 2003 she was awarded the Niwano Peace Prize. 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, 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 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 in Iraq was used as the basis for Jonathan Holmes' production of Fallujah at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane.