1000 Women for Nobel Peace Prize 2005

This years Nobel Peace Prize was announced on the 7th of Oct. The award was shared by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its director general Mohamed ElBaradei. They were awarded the peace prize for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and also to ensure that the nuclear energy being used for peaceful purposes are used in the safest possible way.

The Noble Prize was instituted in the year 1901, and the first prize was awarded to Jean Henri Dunant, the founder of Red Cross and to Frederic Passy, a French economist. Over the years, the Nobel prize has been awarded to individuals as well as organizations, keeping in mind the will of the Alfred Nobel. Alfred Nobel, who instituted the Nobel prizes, has mentioned in his will that the Peace Prize should be awarded “to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses".

The first woman to win the Peace Prize was Bertha Sophie Felicitas Baronin von Suttner, who was the honorary president of Permanent International Society Bureau, who won it in the year 1905. Over the years, only 12 women had won the Peace Prize, the last one being Shirin Ebadi in the year 2003 for her efforts for democracy and human rights in Iran.

Towards the end of the year 2003, a project was initiated, called 1000 Women for Nobel Peace Prize 2005. Their aim was to put forward to the world the work done by various women across the world to counter injustice, discrimination, oppression, and violence. Their idea was to collectively nominate 1000 women from various parts of the world, who have fought against injustice, discrimination, oppression, and violence, and thereby obtain recognition for the efforts of women towards world peace.

I appreciate the work of the project in bringing to the world the work done by 1000 women from across the world, who work under challenging conditions in uplifting the society and addressing various concerns of the people. It was a bit disappointing that they could not get the Peace Prize.

In the past, women who have won the Peace Prize like Mother Teresa in 1979 or Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991, they had done something for the entire country. Their movement was to uplift the entire country from poverty or from human rights violations. Their action was not limited to a particular region or society. In the 1000 women nominated by the project, there might be a few who have worked for a particular region or a society.

I am not saying that their work is in any way inferior to the work done by others, but when competing for an international award, the judge committee would have expected more. I believe that’s the reason they were unable to get the Peace Prize.

I appreciate the fact that there are many women who selflessly work towards the upliftment of the society. Many have faced social and family constraints in working, but all of them have persevered and have made a mark in their work towards society.

I salute each and every one of them.

Source:
Article in The Hindu, titled “Treating women's health” dated 23rd Oct.
Wikipedia’s article on Nobel Peace Prize
www.1000peacewomen.org
The official site for Nobel Peace Prize 2005