LAHORE (PR) - Two North African women have been awarded the 2012 IPS Peace Prize. The prize is named after an earlier chair of the International Peace Bureau (IPS), former Irish Prime Minister Sean MacBride. This year’s prize went to two Arab women, Lina Ben Mhenni from Tunisia and Nawal El-Sadaawi from Egypt.
“They have both shown tremendous courage and contributed substantially to the democratic outcomes of the Arab Spring”, Ingeborg Breines, the co-chair of IPB said. Breines is a former UNESCO Director in Pakistan and last year she taught a course in peace education at the University of Gujrat.
This year’s prestigious prize was awarded to the North African women in Dublin by the current president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, who was himself the first prize winner of the Sean MacBride Prize in 1992, when IPB marked its 100th anniversary. Sean MacBride received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974 for his peace work, especially his opposition to nuclear weapons
This year’s prize winner Nawal El-Sadaawi has in particular focused on injustice against women and the need for greater participation of women in politics. Prize winner Lina Ben Mhenni has with great success used blogging and social media, emphasizing the need for greater equality for all people.