On March 5, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) awarded Dr. Adetokunbo O. Lucas the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award for Dr. Lucas’ “outstanding humanitarian efforts and achievements that have contributed to improving the health of humankind.” (Photo: National Foundation for Infectious Diseases)

For half a century, Dr. Lucas has devoted his life to public health, and has been involved with nearly every public health issue in his homeland, Nigeria. At the global level, Dr. Lucas served for a decade as the founding director of the Special Program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases at the World Health Organization in Geneva. The program resulted in the development of new and improved tools for the control of diseases like leprosy and river blindness that affect the world’s poorest and most neglected people.

President Carter himself nominated Dr. Lucas for the award, citing his important role in follow-up to the so-called “Guinea worm cease-fire” during Sudan’s civil war in 1995, which allowed health workers the opportunity to enter into war-torn areas and conduct Guinea worm disease prevention as well as other health efforts.

Dr. Lucas has remained connected to The Carter Center as a member of the Center’s International Task Force for Disease Eradication. The task force is a group of scientific experts from around the world that works to evaluate disease control and prevention and the potential for eradicating infectious diseases.

President Carter says that Dr. Lucas “is certainly one of the most deserving individuals we know of for the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award.”

This year was the last year Winter Weekend was held in sunny San Diego, Calif. Next year, the annual
benefit auction will move to Vail, Colo. (All photos: The Carter Center/P. Rohe)

Carter Center Winter Weekend attendee Suzanne Taylor examines “Beginning Meets End at All Points Between,” a painting by Jerome Lawrence donated by the artist for the live auction, held on Feb. 23. The painting sold for $21,000.

In addition to live and silent auctions with items such as President Carter’s original woodwork and artwork, an Argo movie poster signed by the cast of the Academy Award-winning film, and luxury vacations, attendees at the invitation-only event are given briefings on Carter Center activities and go on sight-seeing excursions.

A boatswain aboard the U.S. S. Carl Vinson at Naval Base Coronado explains how the 60,000 pound
anchors on the ship are lowered during a tour for Winter Weekend attendees.

This year, Winter Weekend attendees visited Balboa Park, received a special tour of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, watched a musical performance of Panorama, California’s St. Genevieve High School, listened to experts discuss the human rights platform of the Carter administration, and heard from their hosts, Carter Center founders Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, about pressing world issues during a town hall.

President and Mrs. Carter thank St. Genevieve High School students for the musical review they performed
for participants at Winter Weekend.

But the highlight of the festivities involved the live auction, which raised more than $1.6 million to support the work of The Carter Center to wage peace, fight disease, and build hope.

“Winter Weekend is such a special opportunity for our donors and their guests to enjoy fellowship and learn about the work of The Carter Center to support the world’s poorest people,” says Jay Beck, Winter Weekend coordinator. “Of course, we hope they had some fun too, and enjoyed the beautiful scenery here on the southern California coast.”

• Read the press release: Winter Weekend Auction Raises $1.6 Million for Carter Center >
• Learn more about the Center’s Peace Programs >
• Learn more about the Center’s Health Programs>
• Read the CNN Piers Morgan Tonight blog: “More than 150 items up for auction as part of the Carter Center’s annual Winter Weekend event” >
• Learn how you can support our work >

Click on the videos below to view his latest responses.

QUESTION: How do you respond to criticism of the U.S. providing humanitarian aid to other countries during this time of economic duress at home?
(Submitted by Parul Parikh, Atlanta, Ga., via blog)

QUESTION: What will U.S.-China relations look like in the next decade?
(Submitted by Christopher Storey, Atlanta, Ga. via blog)

QUESTION: How can we overcome partisan division and work together toward a mutual interest?
(Submitted by Mohammed Siddig, Santa Barbara, Calif. via Facebook)

Question: What is your latest book?
(Sumbitted by Jane Bigham, Decatur, Ga. via Facebook)

Question: What is the future of the Middle East after the Arab Spring?
(Submitted by Habib AlBadawi, Beirut, Lebanon, via Facebook)

Question: How has your Carter Center work changed you in ways that you didn’t expect
(Submitted by Mary H. Doby, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., via write-in)

Question: Will you work for women’s empowerment in the Middle East and developing countries?
(Submitted by Renate Rose, Cambridge, Mass., via write-in)

QUESTION: Mrs. Carter has been a global leader in mental health awareness for decades. What steps can we take to support her work?
(Submitted by Kevin Imrie, Ontaria, Canada, via Twitter)

QUESTION: Is a Middle East peace agreement possible? What can be done if Palestinian leaders do not recognize Israel’s right to exist?
(Submitted by Leslie Powell, Los Angeles, Calif. via email)

QUESTION: Now that Guinea worm is nearly eradicated, what will be required to keep it controlled?
(Submitted by Bill and Marilyn Cleveland from Plains, Ga. via email)

QUESTION: What kind of political reform would you suggest to the Chinese central government?
(Submitted by Zan Luo via Carter Center blog)

QUESTION: What innovative ways have been used by the Carter Center to make health care dollars go far and help change lives and fight disease.
(Submitted by Judith Askew, Amarillo Texas via write-in)

QUESTION: What can students like me do to advance human rights around the world?
(Submitted from Facebook by Zach Komes, Washington, D.C.)

QUESTION: What might be a peaceful solution to the situation in Syria?
(Submitted from Facebook by Maria Solla, London, United Kingom)

More than 1,000 questions were received from 33 countries around the world on topics from how to eradicate Guinea worm disease to how students can help further world peace.

“I am overwhelmed by the many thoughtful and sometimes poignant questions we received on our website, on Facebook, and on Twitter about so many issues critical to our future,” said President Carter. “My answers reflect my own personal values and experiences, but also the larger goals of The Carter Center to protect human rights, promote peace, and build a healthy, more hopeful future for all people everywhere.”

The Carter Center regularly uses social media channels to support many of its efforts, especially those protecting human rights and strengthening democracy in fragile states, where these platforms have become an important tool among communities with limited or obstructed access to news media and information.

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Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has been named the 2012 recipient of the CDC Foundation’s Hero Award. The foundation honored President Carter for three decades of visionary leadership focused on saving lives, reducing suffering, and providing hope for millions of the world’s poorest people, as well as for his commitment to achieving a more peaceful and healthy world for us all.

“President Carter’s vision and leadership have improved health, reduced suffering, and increased the security of millions of people throughout the world,” says Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC Director.

The Carter Center spearheads the international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, which has seen case reductions of more than 99.9 percent from 3.5 million cases in 1986 to fewer than 1,100 cases last year. The Center also collaborates with CDC and other international partners on efforts to eliminate river blindness and lymphatic filariasis (also known as elephantiasis), and to control the spread of malaria, schistosomiasis, and trachoma.

Official press release >>

CDC Foundation blog by Oz Nelson >>

That’s 31 years of waging peace, fighting disease, and building hope since he left office in January 1981, which the former President says has been some of the most rewarding work of his life: “Rosalynn and I are grateful for the support we have seen for the Carter Center’s work to help some of the world’s poorest and most neglected people get the tools and knowledge they need to improve their own lives.”

In recognition of his humanitarian efforts, especially through The Carter Center, President Carter was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2002.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the not-for-profit Carter Center, which he and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982, has become a permanent extension of the Carters’ vision and courage to make a difference, reaching more than 70 nations. Some of the Center’s achievements include:

• Cases of Guinea worm disease have been reduced from about 3.5 million in 1986 to fewer than 600 expected in 2012. This historic eradication effort has helped to establish permanent, basic village-based health care delivery networks in thousands of communities in Africa.
• 92 elections in 37 countries have been observed. And the Center, which helped pioneer election observation, is seen today as setting the standard for neutral and professional election observation practices worldwide.
• Bolstered by President Carter’s reputation as a peacemaker, Center-led conflict mediations furthered avenues to peace in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, Sudan, Uganda, the Korean Peninsula, Haiti, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Middle East.
• In the field of human rights, the Center was instrumental in helping to establish international standards for human rights through the United Nations. Today, the Center serves as an international forum for human rights defenders struggling to protect these important principles on the ground.
• And in the field of mental health, tremendous advances have been seen in efforts to end the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illnesses as well as the long fight to create parity for mental health in our health care system.

President Carter’s development of the Center has been “only” his fourth career, following decades as a peanut farmer, Naval officer, and elected public official in the state senate, governor’s office, and White House.

“We are very fortunate that President Carter has dedicated himself so completely to the work of the Center. His leadership has helped millions of neglected people to enjoy a brighter future,” says Carter Center President and CEO Dr. John Hardman. “We are all inspired by his energy, wisdom, and compassion.”

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The Carter Center in 1982 in partnership with Emory University to wage peace, fight disease, and build hope worldwide. Today, The Carter Center is a trusted partner to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities to strengthen democracy, protect human rights, fight neglected diseases, and reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illness. (Photo: Carter Center)

Help us celebrate this milestone in President Carter’s life! Download and share these tributes with your friends via email, Facebook, and Twitter:

A Post-Presidency Dedicated to Service. Download photo >	Building Stronger Democracies. Download photo >
Eradicating Guinea Worm. Download photo >	Fighting for Mental Health: A Special Tribute to Mrs. Carter. Download photo >

Read more: The Record-Setting Ex-Presidency of Jimmy Carter >>

In celebration of JTBF’s 20 years dedicated to increasing racial diversity in the legal profession, judges representing the organization, including three President Carter appointed during his administration—judges Horace T. Ward, Phyllis Kravitch, and Nathanial R. Jones—presented him  with the 2012 Trailblazer Legend award during a ceremony today at The Carter Center in Atlanta.

“It all began with you,” the Hon. Ann Claire Williams said as she presented President Carter with the award.  “You created unprecedented opportunities for your appointees and many like me who benefitted from your legacy and stand on the shoulders of these giants. Our nation has surely benefitted from having a judiciary that reflects those that we serve—all Americans whatever their race or sex who seek equal justice under law.”

Accepting the award, President Carter said the credit for trailblazing a path to a more diverse judiciary goes to those he appointed: “Their judicial judgment, their integrity and their commitment to the finest aspects of our nation’s moral and legal values have been so sterling that they brought credit to me.”

He praised the work of JTBF while echoing the words that inspired it. “We’re still at the beginning,” he said, “of bringing true equality of treatment under the law, in economic status, and in occupation of high places in the Senate and Congress to women and people of color.  We still have a long way to go.”

Voting began Wednesday in Egypt, where more than 50 million registered voters may choose the first genuinely democratically elected president in the country’s history.

In the Al-Sayeda Zeinab and Al-Sayeda Aisha neighborhoods of Cairo, hundreds of people lined up outside polling stations ahead of poll opening at 8 a.m. They warmly welcomed President and Mrs. Carter as they arrived to witness voting as part of the 100-member Carter Center delegation.

Those in line expressed enthusiasm, many preparing to vote for the first time in their lives. “These are two days of feast for us,” an elderly voter told Mrs. Carter. “The sun has risen in Egypt,” said another.

Some of those who participated in the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak had lost enthusiasm, but 24-year-old Gehad Abada still thought it was important to vote.

“I am not hopeful about who we will elect as the next president per se, but I am hopeful that he will leave after four years and that we will hold him accountable for what he does, and for anything that goes wrong,” she said.

In a country holding its first real election after decades of dictatorship under one person, that hope means a lot.

President Carter and Carter Center witnesses are welcomed into a polling station by the presiding judge on Wednesday, May 23. (All Photos: D. Hakes/The Carter Center)

A poll worker waits for the next voter to approach his table so he can check his voter identification card.

Shortly after voting began on May 23, a man casts his ballot in Cairo.

Mrs. Carter talks with a female political party observer in Cairo.

President Carter watches as poll workers check a voter’s ID.

Perhaps tired from a long wait in line, a child rests on his mother as she signs in to vote.

President Carter poses for a photo with a voter in Cairo. The Carters were warmly welcomed at every polling station that they visited on May 23.

Women prepare to vote in Cairo.

A woman casts her ballot in Cairo on May 23.

“The poorest, most isolated, most neglected, quite often, the most hopeless people, on earth…now have new hope that their future will be free of this dreaded disease,” said President Carter.

Guinea worm disease—which causes agonizing pain and leaves people incapacitated for weeks, even months at a time—once was endemic to 21 nations in Africa and Asia, afflicting approximately 3.5 million people when eradication efforts began in 1986.

Today, the disease is poised to become the second human disease, after smallpox, to be wiped out and the first to be eradicated without the use of a vaccine or medical treatment.

As the last cases in an eradication campaign are the most difficult and expensive to track, treat, and prevent, the United Kingdom Department for International Development will contribute approximately US $31 million, if other donors come forward, to help end Guinea worm disease transmission before 2015.

“Britain is ready to help fund the final push to eradicate this debilitating disease, and we now need others to join us in taking this historic opportunity to rid the world of Guinea worm,” said United Kingdom International Development Minister Stephen O’Brien.

Other participants in the press conference included Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Carter Center Vice President of Health Programs Dr. Donald Hopkins, and Laurie Lee, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who commented on the scale of the work achieved until now, and the importance for donors to come together and secure the funds to see this through.

“Guinea worm is a painful disease, which has horrendous consequences for sufferers in terms of their immediate health and in terms of their education and employment,” President Carter said. “I welcome the challenge laid down by the British government…I call on other donors to match their efforts.”

Read the press release: Britain to Help Carter Center Secure Worldwide Eradication of Worm Disease >

Photo credit: Carter Center/ J. Cobb
(Left to Right: Minister O’Brien, President Carter)
“It has never been a question of if we can rid the world of this ancient disease – but when. For the price of a sandwich, we can prevent someone in the developing world from catching this terrible disease,” said Minister O’Brien.

Photo credit: Carter Center/ J. Cobb
(Left to Right: Minister O’Brien, President Carter, and Director-General Chan)
“The U.K. has shown its willingness and staying power to help eradicate this debilitating disease. I call on other donors to match their efforts,” President Carter said.

Photo credit: Carter Center/ L. Gubb
Today, South Sudan harbors the vast majority of the world’s remaining cases of Guinea worm disease, which can incapacitate patients for weeks as a worm painfully emerges from a lesion on the skin. In February 2010, Dario Mere (above) suffered worms emerging from both his legs and received free Carter Center-supported treatment and health education at his home in Terakeka County, South Sudan from trained health workers and volunteers.

Photo credit: Carter Center/ L. Gubb
Dr. Donald Hopkins, vice president for Health Programs at The Carter Center, shows South Sudanese children how to prevent Guinea worm disease when they visit their local water source. Dr. Hopkins, a central player in the Center’s work on Guinea worm reminded the International community that the people doing the most to wipe out this disease are the endemic communities, themselves, who need international support overcome this ancient plague: “Resources are especially important at the end of the campaign. It gets more expensive to treat individual cases. We also need to intensify our surveillance of vulnerable regions,” Dr. Hopkins said.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter discusses the Carter Center’s efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease. Learn more about the Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program >

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Watch exclusive Carter Center video of the arrival that took place at Boston Logan Airport.

View Carter Center photos of the August 27 arrival.