Priyadarshni Academy (Mumbai)
19 September 2006
press release
Mumbai — Mr. Olara A. Otunnu, President, LBL Foundation for Children (New York) and former UN Under-Secretary General received the Priyadarshni Global Award for Outstanding Contribution to Human Rights at Priyadarshni Academy's 22nd Anniversary Global Awards Function 2006 held on September 19 in Mumbai, India.
Mr. Otunnu is widely acclaimed for his leadership, vision and extensive contribution in the fields of international peace and security, human rights and humanitarian issues, the work of the United Nations, the future of Africa, and the protection of children exposed to war.
Mr. Otunnu served as President of the International Peace Academy from 1990 to 1998 and as a member of several eminent commissions over the years. He has served as Uganda's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representative to the UN. He was the UN Under-Secretary General and Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict from 1998 to 2005. In that capacity, he led the international campaign to develop and mobilize international action on behalf of children exposed to war, serving as advocate and moral voice for them. He was the architect of the ground - breaking, UN monitoring and compliance mechanism for the protection of war-affected children, adopted by the Security Council in Resolution 1612 (2005).
Mr. Otunnu dedicated his award to the children and women of Darfur (Sudan) and of northern Uganda. He declared, " The children and women of Darfur are being subjected to ethnic cleansing, rape, massacres and forced displacement. They are crying out to you (the international community) for protection. Please act now to end these abominations. "
Concerning the situation in northern Uganda, he pleaded, " There is a comprehensive genocide unfolding in northern Uganda. For 10-20years, 2 million people have been forcibly uprooted and herded into concentration camps by the government, where they are dying at the rate of 1,500 per week; this is more than 3 times the death rate in Darfur. 1,000 children die every week. HIV/AIDS is being used as a deliberate weapon of mass destruction. I implore the United Nations and the world leaders meeting now in New York to break their silence on the genocide in northern Uganda. We must denounce and act to stop genocide whenever it occurs, regardless of the ethnicity or political affiliation of the population being destroyed. "
While in India, Mr. Otunnu is delivering a series of lectures on human rights, reform of the UN, developments in Africa and the protection of children.
Other renowned global awardees of this year included Mr. N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd; Mr. Noel Hon, Chairman, Singapore Kindness Movement; Mr. Arjuna Ranatunga, former Captain, Srilanka Cricket Team; Mr. Toru Hasegawa President and Representative Director, Yamaha Motor Co and Mr. Arindam Chaudhuri, Dean of The Indian Institute of Planning and Management, New Delhi, amongst the thirteen eminent global awardees.
Priyadarshni Academy is a prominent independent institution engaged in socio-cultural and educational activities and has been holding the biennial Awards Function since its inception in 1984. In the past, distinguished personalities like Ms. Megawati Soekarnoputri, President, Indonesia, Mr. Jorma Ollila, Chairman and CEO, Nokia Corporation, Mr. Hiroshi Tsutshi, President, Nissin Corporation, Japan, Sir Adrian Cadbury, Former Chairman, Cadbury Schweppes PLC, U.K. etc have won awards for their accomplishments in their respective fields. Celebrities like Yash Chopra, Urmila Matondkar, Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai have been bestowed with the prestigious Smita Patil Memorial Award.
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