By Lesedi Sibiya-Diplomatic Insider
The Nelson Mandela Foundation held its 23rd annual lecture, which was delivered by Francesca Albanese, an international law expert and serves as the United Nations Rapporteur. The lecture was held at the Sandton Convention Centre, on Saturday 25 October 2025.
Francesca Albanese is an international law expert who specialises in human rights and the Middle East. She has served as the United Nations Rapporteur since 2022 on particularly dealing with human rights issues within Palestinian territory which has been occupied since 1967.
Albanese has taught at various institutions around Europe and the Middle East and has done extensive work with the United Nations (UN) particularly with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.
The 23rd annual lecture was guided by the theme “Enhancing Peace and Global Cooperation” as this theme drew its inspiration from a speech made by the late former South African President Nelson Mandela during a visit in Malawi, back in 2003. A speech that aimed to remind the world that international and multilateral institutions have the ability to solve global issues and also encouraged business leaders to take a stand on making the world a better place.
“The annual lecture this year will enhance the foundation’s critical dialogue on justice, human rights, and peace” said Mbongiseni Buthelezi who serves as CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation. “Francesca’s expertise and commitment to human dignity make her a fitting voice for this year’s lecture, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation looks forward to hosting her,” she continued ahead of the lecture.
In her lecture, Albanese called for UN-member states to boycott, halt trade, as well impose an arms embargo on Israel due to the ongoing genocidal conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“In this moment, as the world witnesses the ongoing attempt to erase an entire people in Palestine. From the fleeting ceasefire in shattered Gaza to the accelerated colonization of the West Bank, history is pressing upon us” said Albanese during her lecture at the Sandton convention centre.
“The meaning of what this genocide means for all of us. For our collective understanding of politics, of solidarity, of humanity. Today we know Gaza, we see Gaza hospitals bombed, parents gathering the limbs of their children, journalists and medics torn apart. Disorder is visible to us in real time on our phones all day long, if you dare to look. But this is also bringing social and political awakening everywhere. It is shaping the conscience, especially of the new generations,” said Albanese in her lecture.
She emphasised that over 70,000 Palestinians have been murdered over the last two years, with 500 having died from malnutrition this year due to the famine plaguing the Gaza strip. Albanese also called out global complicity in this matter, describing this conflict as not a war but a Genocide.
“The ICJ was clear, end the occupation, end the exploitation of Palestinian resources, dismantle the colonies and the system of Apartheid. Israel was given one year, a very generous term to withdraw its troops and dismantle its colonies. Instead the world has looked away,” Albanese expressed.
Albanese has become one of the most targeted UN officials as she was sanctioned by the United States in the beginning of the year. “When a UN mandate holder is punished for calling genocide by its name it shows how far the system has decayed,” she added.
The lecture was under the collaboration of the University of Witwatersrand for the second consecutive year, other past notable speakers include world figures such as former American Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and Abdulrazak Gurnah.