The Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize is a biennial award presented by the Carnegie Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of peace through words, actions, or writings. The Wateler Peace Prize has been awarded at the Peace Palace since 1931 and is the second oldest permanent peace prize after the Nobel Peace Prize.
History On 16 November 1916, during the horrors of World War I, Johan Gerard Daniel Wateler, a banker from The Hague, decided to dedicate his fortune to the cause of peace. In his will, he stipulated that his wealth should be used to create a peace prize. Inspired by Alfred Nobel, he envisioned a recurring award to promote peace. Wateler initially wanted the Dutch government to present the prize, but the De Geer I Cabinet at the time found this inappropriate. Wateler had already taken this possibility into account in his will: if the State declined the inheritance, the funds would be transferred to the Carnegie Foundation.
After Wateler's death in 1927, his estate went to the Carnegie Foundation who was assigned to regularly award the peace prize with the interest of the legate. The Wateler Peace Prize was first awarded in 1931 as an annual award with an interruption during and shortly after World War II. In the early years, the prizes were sent by mail without any formal ceremony. It was not until the 1970s that the award took its current form—a certificate bearing the motto "Pacis palmae digniores quam tropaea belli" ("The Palms of Peace are More Honorable than the Trophies of War").
Award ceremonies Since 2004, the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize has been awarded every two years under the name Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize. The Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize alternates every two years between a Dutch and an international laureate. One edition honors a person or organization from the Netherlands, while the next recognizes an international recipient for their contributions to peace.The Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize is awarded biannually in the Peace Palace and can also be watched live via a live stream available on the website of the Peace Palace. Currently, is the prize money for the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize €35,000.
Youth Carnegie Peace Prize Since 2018, the Carnegie Foundation, in cooperation with the Youth Peace Initiative, also awards the Carnegie Youth Peace Prize to recognize inspiring peace building initiatives by young individuals in (post-)conflict scenarios.
Provisions Johan Wateler had stipulated in his will, that his estate should be used for the prize of the award:
The property as such of the capital ... as well as the remainder of my possessions ... I dote to the State of the Netherlands under the condition that ... the yearly revenue in round figures will be spent for the award of a prize to him or her, who in whatever way, through word, deed or example, literature, sculpture or painting, in the country or abroad, has been most meritorious in the furthering of the peace ideal, or in contributing to finding means to render the horror of war more and more impossible in the long run.
Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize The history of the Wateler Peace Prize and its recipients reflects how the concepts of peace building and conflict prevention have evolved over the past 85 years. Many distinguished figures and organizations have received the award, including Sir Eric Drummond (1931), the first Secretary-General of the League of Nations; Sir Baden-Powell (1934), founder of the Scouting movement; Jean Monnet (1953), one of the architects of the European Union; Coretta Scott King (1969), peace activist and widow of Martin Luther King Jr.; and War Child (2012). In 2014, Lakhdar Brahimi was honoured for his role as a mediator in conflict zones and his contributions to peacekeeping. Sigrid Kaag received the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize in 2016, while Rudi Vranckx was awarded the 2018 prize for his courageous reporting from conflict areas. The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue won the 2022 prize for its efforts in conflict resolution.
Most recently, on 26 November 2024, the Netherlands Armed Forces were awarded the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize in recognition of their participation in more than 80 peacekeeping missions worldwide.
Laureates YearLaureates Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize (2023) Recipients 1931 Eric Drummond, Secretary-General of the League of Nations and the Union internationale des associations pour la Société des Nations, Brussels 1932 Association for the League of Nations and Peace (), The Hague 1933 Arthur Henderson, president of the Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, Geneva 1934 Dutch branch of the World Alliance for International Friendship through the Churches () 1935 Radio Nations of the League of Nations, Geneva 1936 The Hague Academy of International Law, The Hague 1937 Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell 1938 () and the Ecumenical Association in the Netherlands () 1939 American Friends Service Committee, Philadelphia; Friends Service Council, London 1947 , writer and peace activist, co-founder Association for League of Nations and Peace 1948 World Council of Churches, Geneva 1949 The Hague Academy of International Law, The Hague 1950 Institut Universitaire de Hautes Études Internationales, Geneva 1951 Dirk Stikker, former foreign minister, co-founder of NATO and the European Communities 1952 Jean Monnet, Paris 1953 Dutch Council of the European Movement (), The Hague 1954 Anthony Eden, London 1955 Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart 1956 UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) 1957 Adriaan Pelt 1958 , Brussels 1959 Foundation for the Development of Youth Hostels () 1960 Marguerite Nobs, Genève, founder of (UMFCI) 1961 Willem Visser 't Hooft 1962 Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Stockholm 1963 1964 World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), Geneva 1965 , Breukelen 1966 Taizé Community, France 1967 I.K.O.R., the Committee for Wild Geese Broadcasting 1968 Coretta Scott King, U.S.A. 1969 Royal Netherlands Society of International Law (), Utrecht 1970 International Social Service, Headquarters, Geneva 1971 Bert Röling, Groningen 1972 Alva Myrdal, Stockholm, Swedish representative at UN Disarmament Conference, treaty against nuclear proliferation 1973 Addeke Hendrik Boerma, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), initiator of world campaign to combat hunger. 1974 Henry Kissinger, Washington, peace agreement negotiator for the Vietnam War 1975 Max Kohnstamm, Rome, co-founder of the European Communities 1976 Manfred Lachs, Former President and Judge of the International Court of Justice, The Hague 1977 The Salvation Army, The Netherlands 1981 Danny Kaye, first Goodwill Ambassador of the UN Children's Rights Organisation (UNICEF) 1982 , Representative of the High Commissioner for Refugees, The Hague 1983 Hermann Gmeiner, SOS Children's Villages International, Austria 1984 Herman van Roijen, former foreign minister and ambassador of the Netherlands 1985 International Commission of Jurists, Geneva 1986 , UNIFIL, UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon 1986 Verghese Kurien, Chairman of National Dairy, India, known as the "Father of the White Revolution" 1987 Dutch Council for the Disabled (), Utrecht 1988 Brian Urquhart, former under-secretary-general U.N.O. 1989 Médecins Sans Frontières, Netherlands 1990 Jiří Hájek, Czech and Slovak Federal Republic 1991 Municipality of Leiden, City of Refugees initiative 1992 Wilhelm Huber, SOS Children's Villages International 1993 Mr. Eelco Krijn, Mrs. Karin Krijn-van Goudoever and their child (posthumously) 1994 The Jewish Cultural and Humanitarian Society La Benevolencija, Sarajevo 1995 Max van der Stoel, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) High Commissioner on National Minorities 1996 Rolf Ekéus, Chairman of the UN Special Committee on Iraq (UNSCOM) 1997 , Permanent Dutch representative at UN Disarmament Conference 1998 Permanent Court of Arbitration 2000 2001 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 2004 Theo van Boven, Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Commission 2006 Javier Solana, former secretary-general of NATO 2008 Patrick Cammaert, former commander of UN peacekeeping missions 2010 Peace One Day and its founder Jeremy Gilley 2012 War Child 2014 Lakhdar Brahimi, special envoy for peacekeeping missions 2016 Sigrid Kaag, UN, special envoy to the Middle East 2018 Rudi Vranckx, war correspondent 2022 Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) 2024 Netherlands Armed Forces
See also List of peace prizes
References
Sources
External links Youth Carnegie Peace Prize