Sri Lankan judge wins 2006 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education

An 79-year-old Sri Lankan judge, who was Vice President of the United Nations International Court of Justice, has won the 2006 UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Prize for Peace Education.

Judge Christopher Gregory Weeramantry received the $40,000 award in recognition of what UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today called “his ongoing commitment and concrete undertakings in support of the concept and culture of peace through his long and fruitful career.”

As the Chairman of Weeramantry International Centre for Peace Education and Research (WICPER), which he founded in 2001, he has contributed “to the promotion of peace education, human rights, intercultural education, social integration, interfaith understanding, environmental protection, international law, disarmament and sustainable development,” UNESCO said in a statement.

Judge Weeramantry is the author of numerous books and articles. He has lectured around and his judgements at the International Court of Justice have become a reference in international law.

The Colombian Fundación para la Reconciliación has been chosen to receive a Special Mention for “its efforts in introducing new tools for thought and analysis of human discourse to accomplish work of reconciliation and forgiveness as a practical exercise based on a precise methodology,” UNESCO said.

Created in 2001, the Fundación aims to promote the theory and practice of forgiveness and reconciliation. It has also been promoting the project for a charter that would allow for the creation of a global system of reconciliation.

In 2005, 9,000 peasants from Colombia’s poorest areas were involved in a traditional literacy project which included a component of “emotional literacy.” The impact of this course, based on the principle and practice of forgiveness and reconciliation, especially among the young, has been very positive, UNESCO said.