The afternoon brings together global thought leaders, local communities, young voices, artists, activists and families. What emerges is not merely an event, but a collective act of moral imagination: One world, many voices and one message of peace, says the foundation.

"If you want peace, you talk to your enemies, not your friends," says Dr Shashi Tharoor, echoing Desmond Tutu.

Delivering a keynote that aims to blend provocation and moral clarity, Dr Tharoor challenges South Africans and the world to examine the roots of division and the responsibilities of faith and identity, adds the foundation.

"Peace is not born in isolation. Peace is the courage to admit we are wrong. Tolerance is supposed to be a virtue, but it is in fact patronising. We must replace tolerance with acceptance," says Dr Tharoor.

He closes with a question that aims to echo long after he left the stage. "What kind of faith will we practice and what kind of peace will we pursue?"

"Hope is discipline. Peace is labour," says Janet Jobson, CEO of the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation.

Reflecting on the significance of the 15-year milestone, CEO Janet Jobson offers a message anchored in clarity and conviction. "Hope must be practiced, not presumed. Peace is labour, courageous, demanding, profoundly human. Today reminded us that peace is not sentimental. It is something we do, not something we wait for."

"For fifteen years, this Lecture has been a lantern carried through darkness, small, steady, stubborn in its insistence that peace is still possible," says Jobson.

A Global Chorus on the Peace Wall

A central moment of the event is the premiere of the live Peace Wall video installation, a mosaic of letters, drawings, poems and spoken messages received from around the world, says the foundation.

Messages of peace arrive from across South Africa and far beyond, including contributions from, Sir Richard Branson, Forest Whitaker, Zakes Bantwini, Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and youth contributors, artists, activists and families, among many others, adds the foundation.

Set to an original soundtrack titled Letters of Peace, produced by 19 Sound (London) and composed by Jack Wyllie and Will Ward, the installation draws applause as they aim to reinforce Archbishop Tutu's belief that "words can be bridges", says the foundation.

The Peace Wall is anchored by the campaign's core message: From every corner of our country, words become bridges. Every message, every act of kindness, every word of hope becomes part of something greater. This is peace in action, written by many, lived by all. Peace is the presence of justice, love, and action, one letter, one word, one person at a time, adds the foundation.

Youth Voice — Trisha from Wallacedene Primary Halted the Room

The Lecture aims to amplify young South Africans as moral leaders of the present, not the future. Trisha, a learner from Wallacedene Primary School, delivers a reflection that grounded the theme of shared humanity in the everyday reality of children navigating an unequal society, says the foundation.

Her message, honest, urgent, unfiltered, aims to remind the audience that peace is a discipline taught at home, at school and in community, long before it becomes national policy, adds the foundation.

Rev. René August — Truth, Justice and the Courage to See Clearly

The afternoon's moral centre aims to be sharpened by theologian and activist Reverend René August, who reframes peace as impossible without truth-telling. Her message is direct: There can be no peace without justice. No reconciliation without truth. No unity without dignity, says the foundation.

Mandisi Dyantyis

Music, Tutu's "joyful form of resistance" aims to become a living sermon when Mandisi Dyantyis takes the stage. With jazz, soul, Xhosa tradition and spirituality woven into one performance. The standing ovation aims to prove that music transcends, music restores and music brings peace where words fall short, adds the foundation.

Standing With Women for Change: A Commitment Beyond the Lecture

As part of its ongoing commitment to justice and human dignity, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation has closed its doors on Friday, 21 November in solidarity with the Women for Change national shutdown against gender-based violence, says the foundation.

This action aims to reinforce the Arch Bishop's conviction that neutrality in the face of injustice is never an option, adds the foundation.

"Fifteen years on, this Lecture reminds us that peace is not an outcome, it's a choice. It's the choice to show up, to listen, to act and to see one another fully," concludes Jobson. "What began as an act of resistance has become a moral tradition that grows each time ordinary people decide that peace is their responsibility too — the work continues."

For more information, visit www.tutu.org.za. You can also follow the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation on Facebook, LinkedIn, or on Instagram.

*Image courtesy of contributor