New Delhi, Sep 29: Binalakshmi Nepram, Founder of Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network and Secretary General of Control Arms Foundation of India has been conferred the Sean MacBride Peace Prize for the year 2010. The Prize was given to Nepram at a glittering ceremony held at the Nobel Peace Centre in Norwegian capital, Oslo on 23rd September 2010.
The prize is awarded annually by the Geneva based organization, the International Peace Bureau. It is named after Sean MacBride, a distinguished Irish statesman who shared the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize, and is given to individuals or organisations for their outstanding work for peace, disarmament and human rights. The International Peace Bureau is dedicated to the vision of a World Without War and is a Nobel Peace Laureate in year 1910, and over the years 13 of its officers have been recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Sean MacBride Peace Prize for 2010 was awarded by Mr Tomas Magnusson, President of the International Peace Bureau to Nepram in the presence of several dignitaries and peace makers from around the world including Bente Erichsen, Director of Nobel Peace Centre; Aud Kvalbein, Deputy Mayor of Oslo, Tora Aasland, Norwegian Minister of Research and Higher Education amongst several others. In her acceptance speech, Nepram dedicated the Sean MacBride Peace Prize to hundreds of thousands of people in Manipur and parts of Northeast India who have been killed and disappeared in decades of conflict and called upon people, organisations and nations around the world to rally for peace and justice in some of the world’s forgotten areas.”
Secretary-General of International Peace Bureau, Colin Archer said: “It gives me enormous pleasure to award Binalakshmi Nepram the 2010 Sean MacBride Peace Prize in recognition of her extraordinary efforts to promote disarmament and an end to gun violence in India. Her pioneering work with both the Manipuri Women`s Gun Survivor Network and the Control Arms Foundation of India has demonstrated deep determination and commitment – in particular to the linkage between disarmament and development, which is a vital topic for the IPB. Her achievements offer an inspiring model for activists in other parts of the world”.