Millennium Peace Prize for Women


Millennium Peace Prize for Women
The purpose of the prize, which was sponsored by UNIFEM and International Alert, was to recognize leadership that was often neither recognized nor rewarded, yet was essential to holding communities together and to building peace from the community to the negotiating table, Ms. Heyzer explained. While UNIFEM supported women’s leadership in times of peace, it also believed such leadership must be supported in times of crisis and in times of war. The award winners, through their life stories and their commitment, had been at the forefront of peace efforts in their countries, in their communities and worldwide. They had built peace through resistance to violence, and through the creation of space in which dialogue could take place across ethnicities. They were responsible for holding the fabric of society together, and for rebuilding trust across fractured communities. The bronze prize was commissioned from American figurative sculptor Tim Holmes, who has created several such international awards. The sculpture, entitled Anima Mundi, depicts a woman whose facial features combine elements of many races, reaching and striding forward, hand on heart.
Sl | Name | Country | Flag | Year | Awarded For |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
36 | Flora Brovina | Kosovo | 2001 | for efforts to end conflict. | |
35 | Asma Jahangir | Pakistan | 2001 | for efforts to end conflict. | |
34 | Hina Jilani | Pakistan | 2001 | for efforts to end conflict. | |
33 | Veneranda Nzambazamariya | Rwanda | 2001 | for efforts to end conflict. | |
32 | Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres | Colombia | 2001 | for efforts to end conflict. | |
31 | Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency | Papua New Guinea | 2001 | for efforts to end conflict. | |
30 | Women in Black | International | 2001 | for efforts to end conflict. |

Millennium Peace Prize for Women Laureates (2020 ~ 2001)

Flora Brovina
Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2001
Dr. Flora Brovina (Kosovo), who is the founder and President of the Albanian Women’s League of Kosovo; a non-governmental, non-political organization set up to promote and protect the human rights of ethnic Albanian women and to help them become economically independent. Before and during the conflict in Kosovo, she worked closely with Serbian organizations, and the League now operates joint projects for Serbs and Albanians, and runs workshops to promote tolerance.

Asma Jahangir
Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2001
Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani (Pakistan), sisters and joint-recipients who have been at the forefront of the movements for women’s rights, human rights and peace in Pakistan. In 1981, they established the first all-women’s law firm in Pakistan, and they have also been involved with the Women’s Action Forum, with the first free legal aid centre in Pakistan, and with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir is currently the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. Ms. Jilani is the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on the situation of human rights defenders, and Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Hina Jilani
Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2001
Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani (Pakistan), sisters and joint-recipients who have been at the forefront of the movements for women’s rights, human rights and peace in Pakistan. In 1981, they established the first all-women’s law firm in Pakistan, and they have also been involved with the Women’s Action Forum, with the first free legal aid centre in Pakistan, and with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Ms. Jahangir is currently the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. Ms. Jilani is the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on the situation of human rights defenders, and Secretary-General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
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Veneranda Nzambazamariya
Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2001
Veneranda Nzambazamariya (Rwanda), an outstanding leader in the Rwandan women’s movement, and a founder and driving force behind many major Rwandan non-governmental organizations working for peace, such as the Reseau des Femmes, the Pro-Femmes Twese Hamwe, and the Campagne Action pour la Paix. Ms. Nzambazamariya died in an air crash in January 2000.

Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres
Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2001
Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres (Colombia), a coalition of women’s organizations working towards conflict-resolution in Colombia. It acts as a national referee in the conflict zone and aims to ensure that women’s plans for peace and coexistence reach the ears of national and international policy makers.

Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency
Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2001
Leitana Nehan Women’s Development Agency (Papua New Guinea), a keystone of peace negotiations and reconstruction in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, since the mid 1990s. In 1992, under the slogan “Women Weaving Bougainville Together”, the Agency began working to rebuild community trust on the strife-torn island. It has initiated anti-violence workshops in Bougainville, aimed at helping young people understand that the guns and violence they know from their childhood are not necessarily part of their futures.

Women in Black
Millennium Peace Prize for Women 2001
Women in Black (International), a worldwide network of women against war, violence and militarism, which organizes women-only non-violent silent demonstrations and protests. It was started in Israel in 1988 by American, Israeli and Palestinian women to protest against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It now operates internationally. Women in Black in Belgrade will accept the award on behalf of the international organization.