HARARE The Zimbabwe Peace Project has won the French Republics Human Rights Prize, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity for 2010 for its continuous defence and furtherance of human rights in the troubled southern African country. The prize was presented last week by the French Minister for Justice to ZPP director Jestina Mukoko at a ceremony described as ” warm and friendly.”
“The 15.000 award granted to ZPP will allow the NGO to improve its human rights monitoring capacity with an emphasis on the violence early warning systems, using the latest information communication technologies (ICTs),” the minister said.
“Through this Prize, the French Republic salutes the courage of hundreds of thousands of human rights defenders in the world who endanger their lives for the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
The Human Rights Prize is given by the French Government and awarded annually by the Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de lHomme (National Consultative Commission of Human Rights).
Recipients are handed the prize in Paris, usually on December 10th of each year, on the occasion of the Human Rights Day proclaimed by the United Nations.
The award consists of a medal and a total 75.000 prize shared between the various winners that has to be used to implement projects aimed at promoting human rights.
This years prize went to the ZPP, two Burmese and one Mauritanian organisations, and one Chinese blogger.
Several organizations from Afghanistan, Argentina, Benin, Egypt, Moldavia, and Thailand received special mentions.
Post published in: Politics