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Fulbright Association
1100 G Street, N.W.
Suite 525
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: (202) 347-5543
Fax: (202) 347-6540 |
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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Receives 2001 Fulbright Prize
for International Understanding |
| WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 3, 2001) – The Fulbright Association awarded the 2001 J.
William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding to Kofi Annan,
secretary-general of the United Nations, in a ceremony at the Library of
Congress on D ec. 3. The prize, which carries a $50,000 cash award, is made
possible by a grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation.
Secretary-General Annan was selected in July to receive the 2001 Fulbright Prize
for his work in conflict resolution and his promotion of international
cooperation and peace. |
| Former House International Relations Committee Chairman Lee Hamilton, who
chaired the international Fulbright Prize selection committee, said, “Kofi Annan
is a most deserving winner of the 2001 Fulbright Prize. D uring his outstanding
tenure as UN Secretary-General, Mr. Annan has revitalized and transformed the
world’s pre-eminent international institution. He has enhanced the UN’s
capacity to promote and preserve international peace, streamlined UN operations
to make them more efficient and effective, and initiated important new efforts
to partner with the private sector and nongovernmental organizations. Mr.
Annan’s strong leadership and unsurpassed diplomatic skill have contributed
tremendously to the resolution of many dangerous conflicts and to the
advancement of international cooperation and peace.” |
| The Fulbright Association created the Fulbright Prize in 1993 with a grant from
The Coca-Cola Foundation to recognize individuals who have made extraordinary
contributions toward bringing peoples, cultures or nations to greater
understanding of others. Previous Fulbright Prize laureates are former South
African President Nelson Mandela; former United States President Jimmy Carter;
former Austrian Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky; former Philippine President
Corazon C. Aquino; Czech Republic President Václav Havel; former Chilean
President Patricio Aylwin Azocar; United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights Mary Robinson; and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari.
Fulbright Association President Charles H. Harff said, “The Fulbright
Association is honored to award the 2001 J. William Fulbright Prize for
International Understanding to Kofi Annan, whose distinguished career at the
United Nations, particularly as secretary-general, has exemplified fostering
international understanding through exchange, the principle on which the
Fulbright scholarship program is based.” |
| In June, Mr. Annan was unanimously reappointed for a second term as
secretary-general, an action by 189 member states unprecedented in United
Nations history. His key initiatives include reform of the United Nations,
programs for women, efforts to combat HIV/AI D S, and promotion of peace and
prosperity in Africa . Mr. Annan and the United Nations have also built a
strong foundation to increase international cooperation and action against
terrorism. |
| “The 11 September attacks were assaults on humanity, and humanity must respond
to them as one,” Mr. Annan has said. “Every nation and every people have a
responsibility to fight against terrorism by ensuring that differences and
disputes are resolved through political means, and not through violence.” |
| The international committee convened by the Fulbright Association to select the
2001 Fulbright Prize laureate was comprised of Chairman Lee Hamilton; Prof. Ana
Anton-Pacheco, Universidad Complutense, Madrid; D r. R. Fenton-May, a member of
the Fulbright Association’s Board of D irectors; His Excellency Yoshio Okawara,
president of the Institute of International Policy Studies, Tokyo; and Her
Excellency Beatriz M. Ramacciotti, ambassador and permanent representative of
Peru to the Organization of American States (1994-2000). |
| Prof. Ana Anton-Pacheco D r. Fenton-May, Ambassador Yoshio Okawara, and
Ambassador Beatriz M. Ramacciotti all received Fulbright grants to the United
States. |
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