UNESCO Prize for Peace Education

UNESCO Prize for Peace Education 2008 goes to South Africa

Former UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura awarded the 2008 Prize to the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (South Africa), on the recommendation of an international jury presided by Mr Mohammed Arkoun, Professor of History of Islamic Thought. The jury, which met on 19 May 2008, chose the Institute “for its outstanding efforts in building sustainable reconciliation through education and in addressing systemic injustice in Africa.”

The award ceremony was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, on 18 September 2008, within the framework of the celebrations of the International Day of Peace.


General Rules governing the Prize [PDF, 33 KB]
Financial regulations [PDF, 14 KB]

Publications of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education (in PDF format)

Purpose

The purpose of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education is to promote all forms of action designed to construct the defences of peace in the minds of men by rewarding a particularly outstanding example of activity designed to alert public opinion and mobilize the conscience of humankind in the cause of peace, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Charter (Rule 1 of the General Rules).

Who can nominate?

Member States and Associate Members of UNESCO, non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations maintaining formal consultative relations with the Organization and active in a field covered by the Prize, eminent persons qualified in the opinion of the Director-General, in addition to any persons and civil society organizations working in the perspective of the thinking and culture of peace in the world and considered suitable, may submit nominations of an individual, a group of individuals or an organization whose activities are considered to merit this distinction (Rule 6.1 of the General Rules).

Conditions/qualifications of candidates

Candidates, who shall not be subject to any discrimination whatsoever on the grounds of nationality, religion, race, gender or age, shall have made a significant contribution to alerting public opinion and mobilizing the consciences of humankind in the cause of peace. Candidates shall have distinguished themselves through outstanding action, carried out in accordance with the spirit of UNESCO and the United Nations Charter, extending over several years and confirmed by international public opinion, in the following fields:

  • the mobilization of consciences in the cause of peace;
  • the implementation, at international or regional level, of programmes of activity designed to strengthen peace education by enlisting the support of public opinion;
  • the launching of important activities contributing to the strengthening of peace;
  • educational action to promote human rights and international understanding;
  • the alerting of public opinion to the problems of peace through the media and other effective channels;
  • any other activity recognized as essential to constructing the defences of peace in people’s minds (Rule 3.1 of the General Rules).

Selection of the prizewinner and date of award of the prize

The Jury shall meet once every two years, within three months following the closing date for the submission of nominations, to make its recommendations to the Director-General for the selection of the prizewinner.

The Prize shall be awarded by the Director-General at an official ceremony held for the purpose in Paris on the occasion of the International Day of Peace (21 September). The prizewinner/s shall, if possible, give a lecture on a subject relevant to the work for which the Prize has been awarded. Such a lecture shall be organized during or in connection with the prize ceremony. The lecture shall be published by UNESCO.

Laureates

For more information, please contact: peace&security@unesco.org

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