Accepting the centenary Nobel Peace Prize, Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke of a new insecurity that has surfaced in the world since September 11th. “We have entered the third millennium through a gate of fire,” he said. “If today… we see better, and we see further - we will realize that humanity is indivisible.”
The award ceremony took place on December 10th in Oslo, Norway and marked the 100th anniversary of the prize. In his speech, Gunnar Berge, the Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, “In connection with this year’s centenary, the Committee once again felt a need to emphasize the continuous theme of the history of the Peace Prize - the hope for a better organized and more peaceful world. Nothing symbolises that hope, or represents that reality, better than the United Nations.”
The prize - a gold medal, a diploma and $950,000 - was awarded jointly to the United Nations and Mr. Annan and was accepted by the Secretary-General and the President of the UN General Assembly, Han Seung-soo. The prize money will be used for a new UN project, which Mr. Annan said has yet to be decided.
Role of the United Nations in the 21st century
In his Nobel Lecture, which followed the award ceremony, Mr. Annan highlighted three key priorities for the United Nations in the 21st century: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict and promoting democracy. “Only in a world that is rid of poverty can all men and women make the most of their abilities,” he said. “Only where individual rights are respected can differences be channelled politically and resolved peacefully. Only in a democratic environment… can individual self-expression and self-government be secured, and freedom of association be upheld.”
Quoting from the Qur’an, Confucius, the Torah, Christian and Buddhist teachings, Annan spoke of the need for freedom of religion, and of conflicts that have resulted in the name of a higher power. “We can love what we are, without hating what, and who, we are not,” he said. “We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.”
In attendance at the ceremony were more than 20 peace laureates from previous years, Norway’s royal family and other dignitaries.
