September, 2005

1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005

Chan Wai-fong, Coordination Committee of the Peace Women Project

In October 2005, a new name, be it an individual or an organisation, will be announced for the Nobel Peace Prize like every year since 1901 when the world first paid tribute to peace efforts and courage shown by distinguished figures in war and conflict situations. As of today, the prize has been awarded more than 80 times to some 90 individuals and 20 organisations. We will, like before, have a new face and a new name soon. But this year is different, for, unlike before, there is among the some 200 nominees of mostly world renowned figures a group of grassroots women who are little known to people outside of their communities. They are women from different corners of the world who promote peace day in and day out but whose work has usually been quite and unspectacular in the conventional definition and culture of peace-building.

The nomination of 1,000 grassroots women for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize is a project initiated in 2003 by a group headed by Swiss parliamentarian Ruth-Gaby Vermont-Mangold. Coordinated by the Association 1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005, and supported by coordinators in different regions of the world, the project pays due recognition to the contribution of women who have been persistent and courageous in their struggle against various forms of violence, discrimination, suffering and intolerance based on differences in gender, ethnicity, religion and culture in our daily living. They have in their own creative ways been building a new culture of peace long ignored by the mainstream peace politics of ot war"framed by international peace treaties, ceasefires and handshakes between government leaders.

For too long, women have been underrepresented in virtually every aspect of human activity. Over the past century, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded primarily to men. Only 11 women have been awarded the prize. The invisibility of women has obstructed the recognition of their rich, multifaceted and indispensable dimensions of peace-building that are built up by women in their everyday struggle to address human security. Peace is more than the absence of war; it covers a wide range of threats and violence in politics, in the dominant economic, social as well as cultural settings. Peace is human security, which is endangered daily by poverty, disrespect for human rights, environmental degradation, the unfair distribution of resources, unequal access to the decision-making process, discrimination based on gender, race, religion and age, etc. Peace-building not only occurs behind closed-door conference rooms among politicians but also takes shape in daily routines and backbreaking chores undertaken by people in our local communities.

In June 2005, the names, faces and stories of 999 women for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize were made known to the world. The unnamed 1,000th woman was left open for all those whom the project was not able to contact. Three names have been sent to the Nobel Prize Committee on behalf of these 1,000 women. Whether they will become the new Nobel Peace Prize laureate is now in the hands of a few designated personages. What is more important is that the concept of peace is now much more holistic and peace-building efforts much more dynamic with inspiring diversity and vitality. This development is a deconstruction, reconstruction and, more importantly, empowering process for the nominees, their communities and the world at large. Many women, when first approached for the nomination, were bewildered and questioned the relationship of peace and their work that is often perceived as mundane with no socio-economic, cultural or political value. In presenting their nomination and stories, they and their communities have gone beyond the mainstream discourse and have reckoned with the different dimensions they and other women have been fostering in building a more holistic culture of peace.

Of the 999 women, 108 are from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Their work, like their counterparts from other parts of the world, covers a wide range of concerns involving physical violence, abuse and discrimination based on gender, sexuality and culture, economic deprivation, persecution brought about by differences in ideologies and religion, etc. Each of their struggles tells a different story, though they might come from a similar historical, social, cultural and political context. Reading the stories of these 108 names, it is interesting to note that there are a comparatively large proportion of nominees from the religious community from the more money-minded capitalistic city of Hong Kong. Of the nine Hong Kong nominees selected from a list of 17, five are from the Christian faith. They are engaged in areas that promote equal rights for sexual minorities, including homosexuals and sex workers, within the Church and society at large, environmental protection and equal rights for women and that break down the spiritual divide within the Church. Blessed with their religious faith, they work with their peers and with communities facing discrimination and marginalisation to broaden the horizon of the institutional Church and mainstream ideologies.

The nine Hong Kong representatives of the 1,000 Women for the 2005 Noble Peace Prize are Sr. Ann Gray, founder of Action for Reach Out for sex workers; the Rev. Lee Ching-chee, one of the first ordained Christian women in Hong Kong whose ministry provided opportunities for other women in the Church; Liu Ngan-fung, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Association for the Survivors of Women Abuse; New Territories Female Indigenous Residents"Committee, which promotes the rights of women in the patriarchal society of rural Hong Kong; Selina Sun Shuk-man, pastor of the Hong Kong Blessed Minority Christian Fellowship founded by gay Christians; Women Workers Cooperative, an organisation created by laid-off factory workers to promote the rights of women and their economic abilities; Wong Wai-king, founder of the Tai O Cultural Workshop on Lantau Island and a defender of the heritage and environment of this fishing community; Yim Yuet-lin, founder of Zi Teng, a group that combats discrimination against Hong Kong's sex workers; and Rose Wu Lo-sai, who has advocated reforms in both the Christian Church and society as the director of the Hong Kong Christian Institute. Detailed information about these nine women is available on the internet at the Hong Kong Christian Institute's (HKCI) web site at www.hkci.org.hk; information about the project can be found at www.1000peacewomen.org.