Thomson Reuters and the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative of Books For Africa Formalize and Celebrate Partnership

On November 29, 2010, supporters of Thomson Reuters and the Jack Mason Law & Democracy Initiative of Books For Africa gathered to formalize and celebrate their partnership. (View slideshow of reception.) Thomson Reuters has pledged to provide up to 15 core law libraries for BFA shipments each year for the next several years and will fund one shipment a year, a donation worth $1.2 million a year. (Read the TR press release.) Thomson Reuters hosted the reception, which featured a keynote address by former Vice President Walter Mondale, a co-chair of the Initiative. “This partnership will help Africa’s emerging democracies strengthen their governments by giving the next generation of lawyers, civil servants, and government leaders the tools necessary to create and sustain the stable democracies we take for granted,” said former Vice President Mondale.

Read Pioneer Press editorial about the donation.

View video produced by Thomson Reuters celebrating their partnership with BFA.

Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, also a co-chair of the Initiative, sent greetings via a recorded message, which you can listen to here. "Thanks to the generous commitment of Thomson Reuters, we can further the rule of law across Africa," said Secretary-General Annan. Chief Judge Michael Davis of the U.S. District of Minnesota spoke of the commitment to diversity of his mentor, the late Jack Mason, the inspiration for the Initiative. Judge Davis expressed enthusiasm for a possible shipment to Somalia next year funded by the Federal Bar Association.

Thomson Reuters and Books For Africa have collaborated to send books to African law schools for the last two years thanks largely to the efforts of Lane Ayres (Director of the Law & Democracy Initiative) and Tom Pfeifer (Senior Vice President at Thomson Reuters), but the partnership was made official with the signing of an MOU at the reception. To date, Thomson Reuters has contributed more than 3,500 new legal texts and 50,000 general interest books to legal and public schools across 12 African nations through its work with Books For Africa. "We are grateful to be a part of this important initiative to provide Africa's future lawyers, civil servants and leaders with the information and tools needed to establish stable and prosperous democracies," said Peter Warwick, chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters, Legal.