UNESCO prize for peace education, 2008

The UNESCO Prize for Peace Education 2008 was awarded to the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (South Africa) by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the recommendation of the International Jury of the Prize. The prize-giving ceremony, organized as part of the celebrations of the International Day of Peace (21 September), the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001- 2010) and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was held at UNESCO Headquarters on 18 September 2008 in the presence of Mr Mohammed Arkoun, President of the International Jury, and H.E. Mr Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, member of the International Jury, former Prize laureates, Permanent Delegates of Member States and representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations. The award ceremony was preceded by the screening of an excerpt from the documentary Truth, Justice, Memory: South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Process and by a video message from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a unifying leader in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa, and former Chairperson of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission