Nelson Mandela's July 18 birthday is annual cause for celebration in South Africa and draws attention from his many local and international admirers.

This year, the partying also has a serious side, with the launch on Wednesday -- Mandela's 89th birthday -- of a humanitarian campaign to be led by Mandela, former United States president Jimmy Carter, former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan and other "elders" of the global village.

"This group of international leaders will share how they intend to work together to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity in addressing some of the world's toughest problems," organisers said in a statement.

The group, with a full roster to be announced on Wednesday, stems from an idea by British entrepreneur Richard Branson and musician Peter Gabriel to create a world council of elders to tackle issues such as conflict, HIV/Aids and global warming.

Branson and Gabriel, who founded an international human rights organisation and championed the anti-apartheid cause, were expected to attend the launch, part of a week of festivities.

A children's party that has become an annual fixture wraps things up on July 24. Before that, events will feature former US president Bill Clinton and soccer legend, Pele who will play in a special star-studded match to honour Mandela.

Mandela was imprisoned for nearly three decades for his fight against apartheid. He was released in 1990 to lead negotiations to end decades of racist white rule and elected president in South Africa's first free elections in 1994. He left office in 1999, but has continued to take a leading role in the fight against poverty, illiteracy and HIV/Aids in Africa.

Clinton will open an exhibition on July 19 that focuses on the late chief Albert Luthuli, an anti-apartheid campaigner who won the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize, and Mandela, who was given the honour in 1993.

Luthuli was the leader of the now-governing African National Congress when the organisation decided to embark on an armed struggle against the racist apartheid regime. Mandela was the ANC's leader three decades years later as it negotiated a peace settlement with the nationalist government.

On Sunday, Annan will deliver the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture. The first in the series was given by Clinton on July 19 2003. Others who have delivered lectures include retired South African Archbishop and 1994 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai as well as South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki.

Veteran soccer player Pele and current star Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon head the list of the more than 50 past and present international players of the game taking part in "90 Minutes for Mandela".

The match, to be played on Wednesday in Cape Town, will pit Africa against the rest of the world. Proceeds are earmarked for social programs, including Mandela's campaign against HIV/Aids.

Fifa organised a similar all-star match in 1999 to honour Mandela when he stepped down as South African president.

Before the match, a special ceremony will be held to honour a soccer league formed by political prisoners held on Robben Island, where Mandela was incarcerated for 18 of the 27 years he spent in jail.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter will confer honorary Fifa membership on the Makana Football Association, whose games Mandela, separated from his comrades, watched from his cell window until prison authorities built a wall to further cut him off.

Makana is a local name for Robben Island, after a 19th century warrior leader of the Xhosa. The British banished Makana to Robben Island in 1819, and he died trying to escape.

Mandela showed he understands the importance of sport in helping to build a nation at the Rugby World Cup final in 1995, when he appeared before a crowd of fans, most of them white, wearing a green and yellow South African team jersey. It was a powerful message to white South Africans he was serious about racial reconciliation. Mandela also played an instrumental role in persuading Fifa to award South Africa the right to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a first for Africa.

Award-winning South African filmmaker Anant Singh, who has produced a documentary about the little-known Robben Island soccer players, told Fifa the movie shows "how human beings can prevail under trying circumstances". - Sapa-AP