The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize has been attributed to Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland and founder of the non-governmental organization Crisis Management Initiative. The former U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Kissinger acts as the president of the international jury that awards the Prize. The jury declared that the laureate had been chosen “for his lifetime contribution to world peace.”
UNESCO’s General Conference created the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize in 1989 “to honour living individuals, and active public or private bodies or institutions that have made a significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO.”
Previous laureates of the Prize include Nelson Mandela, Frederik W. De Klerk, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Pérès, Yasser Arafat, King Juan Carlos of Spain, former US President Jimmy Carter and Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade.
