One hundred and eight Chinese women, including numerous NGO activists, have been selected for inclusion in a joint nomination for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

Council of Europe member, Dr. Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, launched the initiative three years ago to recognize women’s collective struggle against poverty and violence and for justice, education, political rights and security. If the bid is successful, the Prize will be conferred jointly on 1,000 women from over 150 countries.

The women were selected by an international project team under the auspices of a ‘1,000 Women for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize’ association, established by Dr. Vermot-Mangold, working together with Swisspeace, a group set up by the Swiss Peace Foundation in 1988. Selection criteria included the sustainability of the women’s work, the inclusion of all parties in a conflict, long-term commitment and the use of networks. A total of 999 individual women are named in the nomination, with the 1,000th place left anonymous in symbolic recognition of the accomplishments of women peace workers worldwide.

Chinese women included in the nomination include a number of NGO leaders such as Wang Yongchen (Green Earth Volunteers), Yun Jianli (Green Hanjiang), Zheng Bing (Shanxi Yongji Farmers’ Association) and Xie Lihua (Rural Women Culture Centre).

Dr. Lau Kin Chi from Lingnan University in Hong Kong served as the nomination coordinator for the greater China and Mongolia area. She is also the founding member of the China Social Services and Development Research Centre, a voluntary group engaged in development research and community building projects in China.

The Chinese women co-nominees will meet together at a symposium in Beijing on August 27, and again at a conference in Yunnan Province in December, to facilitate networking and exchange among them.

Of the 999 women nominated worldwide, 45% are working at the grassroots level, 43% are active in national institutions and universities, and the remaining 12% work in parliaments, governments and international organizations. To make their work and its lasting value more visible – regardless of the Nobel Committee’s decision when the Prize is awarded in October – journalists are preparing portraits of the 999 women, to be compiled in a book and published on-line.

Since the Nobel Prize was initiated in 1901, only 12 our of 92 Peace Prize laureates have been women. Ms. Wangari Maathai of Kenya, an environmentalist and founder of the Greenbelt Movement, and Ms. Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian campaigner for human rights, were the Peace Prize laureates in the last two years.

Contact: Ms. Han Xiaoning
+86 (0)10 8184 2103
women2005@126.com
www.1000peacewomen.org

TQ, August 16