Annan, UN share the centenary Nobel Peace Prize
( 2001-10-12 17:34 ) (7 )

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the United Nations jointly won the centenary Nobel Peace Prize in honor of their work promoting global harmony and to stress the bedrock role the UN must play in world peace, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced in Oslo Friday.

"For 100 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to strengthen organized cooperation between states. The end of the Cold War has at last made it possible for the UN to perform more fully the part it was originally intended to play," the committee said in its citation.

"Today the organization is at the forefront of efforts to achieve peace and security in the world and of the international mobilization aimed at meeting the world's economic, social and environmental challenges," it said.

Noting that Annan had devoted most of his working life to the UN, it said that as secretary general he had been "preeminent in bringing new life to the organization".

"While clearly underlining the UN's traditional responsibility for peace and security, he has also emphasized its obligations with regard to human rights. He has risen to such new challenges as HIV/AIDS and international terrorism and brought about more efficient utilization of the UN's modest resources.

"In an organization that can hardly become more than its members permit, he has made clear that sovereignty cannot be a shield behind which member states conceal their violations."

"The UN has in its history achieved many successes and suffered many setbacks. Through this first peace prize to the UN as such, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes in its centenary year to proclaim that the only negotiable route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United Nations."

The prize is accompanied by a cheque for 10 million Swedish kronor (just under one million dollars, or 1.03 million euros).

In order to mark the 100th anniversary of the award, this year's formal prize ceremony on December 10 in Oslo was scheduled to be attended by most of the previous Peace Prize laureates still alive today.