Atlanta – Jimmy Carter was fresh out of the White House and contemplating his life after the presidency when he envisioned The Carter Center as a platform to work for peace in troubled places.
Carter had brokered the historic peace accord between Israel and Egypt in 1978 at Camp David, and he wanted a similar venue to further his diplomatic work. But 25 years later, the center’s focus has expanded from that initial focus on traditional human- rights work to addressing basic human needs.
“We began to find that if a family is starving to death and has no place to live and has no chance for any kind of rudimentary health care and is in a war zone, those deprivations become their main concern about human rights,” Carter said.
The Carter Center has scheduled events throughout the year to commemorate its 25th anniversary. “Beyond the Presidency: 25 Years of The Carter Center,” a special exhibit at the center’s Jimmy Carter Library and Museum, opened Saturday.
Carter, at 82, maintains a full schedule of international travel promoting the center’s missions with wife, Rosalynn.
Since its inception, the center has promoted democracy by monitoring more than 67 elections in 26 countries. Last year, it monitored elections in Nicaragua, Congo and the Palestinian territories. Peace negotiators from the center have led talks between warring or rival factions in trouble spots around the globe, including Haiti and Liberia.
But the center has also taken on projects such as leading a coalition that is on the verge of eradicating Guinea worm disease. The Carter Center also has spearheaded efforts to stamp out river blindness in Latin America and is working to wipe out the disease in Africa.
Carter said he is particularly proud of a program that has helped more than 8 million small-scale farmers in 15 African nations double or triple their production.
