Jody Williams and ICBL participate in Nobel Peace Prize Centennial

(Sunday 09 December 2001 Oslo)

Jody Williams and Steve Goose, on behalf of the ICBL, are participating in events celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway this week. They are accompanied by Jerry White and Liz Bernstein of the ICBL. On the occasion of the Centennial, they have joined approximately 30 Nobel Peace Prize laureates invited by the Nobel Institute to participate in these events. A Nobel Peace Prize Centennial Symposium was held 6-8 December, in which laureates and academics addressed the themes around "The Conflicts of the 20th century and the Solutions for the 21st century." Papers were presented, updates on efforts by laureates given and there was discussion about addressing pressing issues of the day.

Presentations were made by Jody Williams and Steve Goose and fellow laureates Norman Borlaug, Kim Dae- Jung, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, John Hume, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mairead Maguire, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, Jose Ramos-Horta, Joseph Rottblat, Oscar Arias Sanchez, David Trimble, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lech Walesa, Elie Wiesel and representatives from AFSC, Amnesty International, Medecins Sans Frontieres, ICRC, IFRC, ILO, International Peace Bureau, IPPNW, Pugwash, UNICEF, UNHCR, and other institutions that have received the prize over the years.

Jody Williams, speaking on a panel entitled "Militarism and Arms Races--Strengthen Arms Control and Disarmament," noted "I keep hearing that the events of September 11 have changed the world…I’m not so sure September 11 changed the world. Certainly it changed the psyche of people in the United States. But that is not the same as changing the world." She emphasized that the world reacted in the ‘usual fashion’ of using violence to the horrific crime against humanity. "I wonder when the line will be crossed, when patriotism becomes xenophobia….We are told we are going to war to protect civilization and freedom at the same time draconian laws are being passed [in the US]to take away our freedom." She said that while she had visited Ground Zero in New York, and she kept thinking of "our colleagues, who brought us pictures of Grozny, in Chechnya. The whole city is Ground Zero. All of Afghanistan, before the bombing began, was already a Ground Zero."

She closed emphasizing that individuals can make a difference in the world. "However, not the individual alone …behind this face there are thousands of people who worked together to change the world on the landmine issue. The only way we’ll change the world is to empower civil society, to increase people’s ability to create the world that they want to live in… The landmine campaign is about the power of civil society and the individual to work with states in a different way to create laws that affect us all...If we succeed we all do, but if we fail, we all do."

Steve Goose, on the same panel, summarized the ban movement and the successes of the campaign, in the hopes that looking at some elements of it might provide guidelines for other disarmament issues. He identified the following elements: a focus on the humanitarian aspect and international humanitarian law; the vital role of civil society, noting "We showed that civil society could demand action, get it, and have success";

the important role of medium and small-size states in setting the international diplomatic agenda; a partnership between civil society and pro-ban governments, ICRC and UN agencies; and "the importance of pursuing non-traditional diplomacy through openness and inclusivity". He also described the progress made in the ban movement since 1997, the Landmine Monitor initiative, and successes of the Mine Ban Treaty, as well as the work remaining to be done.

In addition to the presentations and panels, the symposium provided an opportunity for informal discussions and networking at meals and receptions.

On 8 December all of the laureates joined people and politicians around the world in an appeal for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, held on the steps of the Norwegian Parliament in the drizzling rain. The event, held on the Nobel Centennial as well as the 10th anniversary of her winning the prize, was one of 30 around the world. It included a live hook-up transition to events in Washington DC and Bangkok. Archbishop Desmond Tutu waved enthusiastically "hello Aung San Suu Kyi" and said, "In physical stature she is petite and elegant, but in moral stature she is a giant. Big men are scared of her. Armed to the teeth and they still run scared." Jose Ramos-Horta read a letter to Than Swe, leader of the regime, signed by the laureates, urging her release, as welll as that of other political prisoners in Burma, and compliance with UN resolutions demanding negotiations on democracy.

The laureates then were offered a tour of the Centennial Nobel Prize Exhibition at the Norsk Folkemuseum, followed by a dinner.

On 9 December the laureates participated in a 90 minute CNN Special Nobel Debate, "In Pursuit of Peace," hosted by Jonathan Mann, broadcast live worldwide from the University in Oslo. That evening the Speaker of the Norwegian Parliament gave a dinner for the laureates and their guests.

10 December all of the laureates will participate in the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony for the 2001 laureate, Secretary General Kofi Annan and the United Nations, followed by a reception and banquet. 11 December there will be a Peace Prize performance of the Oslo Schools, followed by the Nobel Peace Prize Concert.