Radhika Coomaraswamy named Laureate of the Fondation Chirac Special
Jury Prize 2012
Former Under Secretary General of the United Nations/Special
Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy was
chosen for the Special Jury Prize 2012 by the Fondation Chirac (Chirac
Foundation), states a press release from the Sri Lankan Embassy in
Paris.
The Fondation Chirac was created in 2008 by former President of
France, Jacques Chirac, at the term of his presidential mandate.
The foundation will also award Father Francisco De Roux the Prize for
Conflict Prevention for his action in favor of development and democracy
in the Magdalena Medio area, in Colombia. The announcement of the two
laureates, who were chosen for their exemplary nature and the urgency of
their efforts, was made today, October 11th, 2012, during a press
conference organized by the Fondation Chirac, in partnership with the
French Senate and the AFP Foundation (French Press Agency). The awards
ceremony will take place
on November 22. Both prizes will be awarded by former President of
Senegal Abdou Diouf.
Radhika Coomaraswamy was chosen for her actions aimed at the
protection of children in armed conflict. During her mandate as Special
Representative she put in place 17 action plans for the eradication of
the use of child soldiers around the world.
She also contributed to the recognition, at the International
Criminal Court, of individual criminal responsibility of those
recruiting or using child soldiers.
The laureates were selected by an international jury and a committee
of experts. This year’s jury, presided by Jacques Chirac, was composed
of leading peacemakers: Boutros Boutros-Ghali (former Secretary-General
of the United Nations), Michel Camdessus (former Director-General of the
International Monetary Fund), Joaquim Alberto Chissano (former President
of Mozambique), Vaira Vike Freiberga (former President of Latvia),
Federico Mayor (former Director-General of UNESCO), Andrea Riccardi
(Minister for
International Cooperation/Italy), Jean-Pierre Landau
(Inspector-General of Finances), Ismaïl Serageldin (Director of the
Library of Alexandria) and Simone Veil (former State Minister/France).
The Award for Conflict Prevention aims to improve awareness and
support for those who dedicate a part of their lives and resources to
prevent conflicts. Previous recipients of the Special Jury Prize were:
Louise Arbour (2011), former Chief Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, Lakhdar Brahimi
(2010), former representative of the Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN)
in Southeast Asia and Dr. Park Jae-Kyu (2009), former Minister of
Unification of the Republic of Korea. |