This year’s Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates took place in Warsaw on 21-23 October and was attended by such prominent guests as former Polish President Lech Wałęsa, His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama, former President of South Africa Frederik Willem de Klerk, Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, Irish peace activists Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan-Maugire, the originator of microcredit Muhammad Yunus, as well as representatives of Nobel Peace Prize awarded organisations. A special guest of the Summit was Samia Nkrumah, social activist and daughter of the first Ghana’s President.
During the Summit debates Nobel Peace Laureates talked about the most topical issues related to peace, democracy and human rights. The themes raised at official meetings were followed up during the afternoon youth workshops held as part of the Civic Academy, a recurring project of the Lech Wałęsa Institute.
The last day of the Summit featured an official ceremony presenting the Peace Summit Award. Since 1999, the Award has been annually bestowed to high-profile cultural or entertainment personalities who act to address problems of the modern world. This year’s Peace Summit Award was presented to the actress Sharon Stone for her “activities that brought solidarity and new hope to the millions of people who have fought and are fighting against the tragedy of HIV/AIDS”. Accepting the prize from Nobel Peace Laureates, the actress called the audience to support her charitable work.
On the final day of the three days of debates, Presidents De Klerk and Wałęsa announced that the next year’s World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates will be held in Capetown, South Africa.
