Hessian Peace Prize

The Canadian-Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver will be posthumously awarded the Hessian Peace Prize of the Albert Osswald Foundation for the year 2023 in recognition of her many years of commitment to women's rights, social justice and the peace process in Israel. This was announced on May 27, 2024 by Parlia­ment President Astrid Wallmann together with former Minister of State Karl Starzacher, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hessian Peace Prize and former President of the State Parlia­ment, and Board of Trustees member Nicole Deitelhoff.

In its state­ment, the jury particularly highlighted Silver’s commitment to the coexistence of Jews and Palestinians through the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development and the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation. These initiatives are dedicated to intercultural understanding and sustainable peace in the region.

Vivian Silver grew up in Winnipeg, Canada. In 1974, she moved with her husband and two sons to Kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza Strip. In 1998, Silver became the executive director of the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Develop­ment, a non-govern­mental organization based in Beersheva, which is committed to the coexistence of Jews and Palestinians and has over 45,000 mem­bers. In 2014, she was one of the founders of the women's peace initiative Women Wage Peace. When Hamas stormed the settlement of Be'eri, not far from the Gaza border, on October 7, 2023 and carried out a massacre there, Vivian Silver was among the victims.

Vivian Silver’s previous honors include the “Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East”, which she received in 2010 together with Amal Elsana Alh'jooj for founding the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation. In 2019, the peace initiative Women Wages Peace, which she co-founded, was awarded the Bremen Peace Prize.

This year’s award to the murdered Vivian Silver not only honors her life’s work. The award also em­phasizes the funda­mental importance of inclusive peace efforts and sends a signal for the urgency of dialogue and cooperation. Silver's commit­ment thus becomes an example of the lasting impact of striving for peace and justice. 

The Hessian Peace Prize is endowed with 25,000 euros. The award ceremony will take place on July 1, 2024 in the Hessian State Parliament. Vivian Silver's son Yonatan Zeigen will accept the award on behalf of his murdered mother.

To the press release of the Hessian State Parliament (in German).

Somali-Canadian human rights activist Ilwad Elman will receive the Hessian Peace Prize 2022 for her work on behalf of victims of gender-based violence and for peace in Somalia. This was announced by the Hessian Parlia­ment in a press conference on February 13, 2023. The award ceremony will take place on March 8, 2023 in the Hessian Parliament.

With Ilwad Elman, the State of Hesse honors a perso­nality who is committed to the survivors of gender-based violence and peace in Somalia. In particular, the award recog­nizes Ms. Elman’s tireless efforts to engage various victim groups in peace nego­tiations to achieve a sustain­able and stable peace.

Ilwad Elman was born in Moga­dishu, Somalia on December 22, 1989. She migrated with her mother and two sisters in the 1990s, first to Kenya, then to Canada. In 2010, she returned to Somalia to work for a peace process in the East African country as the civil war continued. She still pursues this work today, including in the NGO Elman Peace, which was founded by her parents. Elman Peace is committed to human rights, gender justice, protect­ion of civilians, peace and social issues.

Ms. Elman is the founder of “Sister Somalia”, the first crisis center for survivors of sexual violence in Soma­lia. The initiative com­bines culturally appro­priate trauma therapies and educa­tional programs. At the same time, Ms. Elman advo­cates for surviv­ors of gender-based and gender-specific violence to be involved in peace­building. Ilwad Elman further serves as a founding member of the “Advisory Committee for Research­ing Gender Based Violence Social Norms” in Somalia and South Sudan, an advisor in the “Women Waging Peace Network for In­clusive Security,” and a member of the Kofi Annan Foun­dation's “Extremely Together” initiative, which seeks to prevent violent extrem­ism world­wide through work with youth.

In 2014, Ilwad Elman graduated from the White House Fellow­ship for Young African Leaders, esta­blished by President Barack Obama, and that same year was named a Youth Amb­assador to Somalia for Ending Sexual Violence in Conflict. In August 2016, Elman was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon as an Expert Advisor on Youth, Peace and Security and tasked with advising on a study to develop a strategy for UN Security Council Resolution 2250. In 2018, Elman Peace initiated the Peace by Africa network with the UN Develop­ment Programme.

In December 2022, Ilwad Elman received the Right­Livelihood Prize, also known as the “Alter­native Nobel Prize,” together with her mother Fartuun Adan. In 2020, she received the German Africa Prize.

Wiesbaden, December 14 - The Hessian Peace Prize 2020 goes to the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, and the former Prime Minister of Greece, Alexis Tsipras.
Zaev (Social Democratic League, SDSM), Prime Minister of North Macedonia (May 2017 to January 2020 and since the end of August 2020), and Tsipras (Syriza Party), Prime Minister of Greece (January 2015 to July 2019), receive the award for settling the name dis­pute between the two states. In the future, Macedonia’s name will be “Republic of North Macedonia” (Republika Severna Makedonija).

The Board of Trustees of the Albert Osswald Foundation decided in December 2021 to withdraw the Hessian Peace Award presented to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2019. The Board of Trustees based its decision, which became public during the press conference on the 2022 Hessian Peace Award, on the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray province. It is the first time in the history of the prize that the Board of Trustees has made such a decision.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received first the 2019 Hesse Peace Prize and later the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach a historic peace deal with neigh­boring Eritrea in 2018 after a two-decade conflict, as well as his domestic reform efforts to liberali­ze the country. The civil war in the Tigray region in the north of the country began in November 2020, with peace negotiations leading to a ceasefire in the fall of 2022. During the conflict, the Ethiopian govern­ment led by Abiy Ahmed shared responsibility for the escalation of violence through its policies, which were ac­companied by the most serious human rights vio­lations.

Human rights violations in Ethiopia

The Board of Trustees has closely followed the conflict in the Tigray region since it broke out in November 2020, although access to in­formation in the ongoing conflict has been difficult, even for the research institutions represented on the Board. In December 2021, at the initiative of the European Union, the United Nations Human Rights Council decided to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate human rights violations in the region. This decision by the Human Rights Council was based on veri­fied evidence of the most serious human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict.

Reason for the withdrawal

The Hessian Peace Award is given for achieve­ments or efforts that are in the past, but are linked to hopes and expectations that reach into the future. The awarding of the prize to the Ethiopian Prime Minister in 2019 was linked to the hope that he would continue his efforts for peace on the African continent in the future and advance the libera­lization of Ethiopia. It is in line with the idea of the award to not only recognize efforts to achieve negative peace and the absence of violence, but to recognize commit­ment to positive peace that promotes human rights, reconciliation, and addressing injustice. The Ethiopian government under Prime Minister Ahmed did not contribute to peace in 2020 and 2021, but proved part of the escalating violence, according to the Trustees. The country's re­form course was revised by a return to an authoritarian style of government. This under­mines the intentions with which the prize was awarded and justifies the decision to withdraw the prize. The decision of the Board of Trustees aims to protect the prize as well as past and future laureates. There will be no re­claiming of the prize money associated with the award.

The prize honors Abiy Ahmed Ali's outstanding achievement for a historic peace declaration with the arch-enemy Eritrea. A 20-year conflict that has cost the lives of more than 100,000 people and has flared up again and again in recent years seems to be coming to a peaceful end. A process of reconciliation between the two states offers opportunities for the societies of both states and the East African region. These important developments and the resulting opportunities for a peaceful future are worthy of recognition. “Abiy Ahmed Ali is one of the great hopes on the African continent. We want to honor his commitment to peace with the Hessian Peace Prize and at the same time continue to promote it,” said Nicole Deitelhoff, Head of PRIF and member of the Board of Trustees.

The peace agreement and the reconciliation of the two neighbouring states based on it raise hopes for the stabilization of the entire region. The changes introduced by Abiy Ahmed Ali are also noteworthy domestically: since Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974, there has been no change of government in the country without bloodshed. The single party “Revolutionary Democratic Front of the Ethiopian Peoples” (EPRDF), which has been in power since 1991, is closely interwoven with the Ethiopian state, controls all levels of the federal system and has repeatedly, relied on repression. Abiy’s government is also supported by this coalition, but in the last year and a half it has made significant progress in political and economic liberalization. The increased public attention that followed the award of the Hessian Peace Prize could serve as a reminder not to stop now but to press ahead with these domestic reforms peacefully and integratively.

Abiy Ahmed Ali, born 1976 in Beshasha, Ethiopia, appointed Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018. He belongs to the ethnic group of Oromo, who have long perceived themselves as marginalized in Ethiopia’s political system. He is the first Oromo to become Prime Minister.

A former soldier in the Ethiopian army, he studied computer and communications technology, cryptography, transformational leadership and business administration and received a doctorate in management and leadership from the University of Addis Ababa in 2017. He served in the Eritrean-Ethiopian border war from 1998 to 2000 and was Deputy Director of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), a secret service agency that monitors telecommunications and the Internet in Ethiopia, from 2007 to 2010.

He has been a member of the Ethiopian Parliament since 2010 and was Minister of Science from 2015 to 2016. He is a member of the political group of the Democratic Organization of the People of Oromo (OPDO), which is part of the single ruling party EPRDF. Since March 2018 he has been Chairman of the EPRDF. At 42, he is the youngest head of government in Africa.

The award ceremony took place on September 23rd, 2019. On behalf of Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s minister of peace, Muferihat Kamil, accepted the award. Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier delivered the laudatory speech.

February 8, 2019 - Şebnem Korur Fincancı was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment in Turkey on 19 December 2018. She is accused of “terror pro­paganda” because she signed the peace petition “We will not be a party to this crime” together with more than 1000 academics in 2016. There is currently still the possi­bility that the doctor will be acquitted by the Court of Appeal.

On February 7, 2019, the Hessian Parliament ex­pressed its solidarity with Fincanci and criticised the imprisonment of journalists, scientists and democratically elected representatives in Turkey.

Antrag im Hessischen Landtag: Hafturteil gegen Ärztin und Hessische Friedenspreisträgerin 2018 (german) 

„Hessen kritisiert Türkei für Verurteilung von Fincanci“, Wiesbadener Kurier, 08.02.2018 (german) 

On February 23rd, former swiss lawyer and diplomat Carla del Ponte was awarded with the Hessian Peace Prize. The prize re­cognizes her outstanding life’s work and especially her firm conviction that only law can establish sustainable peace.

Carla del Ponte worked as Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tri­bunal for Rwanda. After spending three years in Argentina as Switzerland’s ambassador, Carla del Ponte was appointed as a member of the Inde­pendent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic. The Prize’s curatorship especially honors her relentless commitment in behalf of  the victims of human rights violations  and the enforcement of international criminal law in the cause justice. Ms del Ponte has spared no political conflict in order to bring justice to the victims of the most serious crimes against humanity - even if that meant violating diplo­matic rules. She has openly addressed political failings, such as the insufficient cooperation of Western states in the pro­secution of wanted war criminals in Yugoslavia.

In 2017, Carla del Ponte re­signed from the Commission of Inquiry on war crimes in Syria after five years due to the to frustration at the lack of support from the in­ternational community. Her withdrawal exemplifies Carla del Ponte’s unwavering de­termination to fight injustices in spite of resistance.

The award ceremony took place at the Hessian Parliament (Landtag) in Wies­baden. The Hessian Peace Prize was founded in 1993 by the former Prime Minister of the State of Hesse, Albert Osswald, and his foundation. The prize is endowed with €25.000. It is awarded to individuals who have rendered out­standing service to furthering mutual understanding among nations and peace. PRIF advices the committee in the selection of awardees and documents the award ceremonies.

Carla del Ponte do­nated the endowment of 25,000 € to different projects. Among others, she supports a care project for Syrian children and surgeons working for free in African countries.

On July 19th, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, was awarded the Peace Prize in the Representation of the State of Hesse in Brussels. With the prize the board of trustees honored Federica Mogherini for her commitment to the nuclear deal with Iran.The state­ment from the certificate: “Mrs. Federica Mogherini is honored with the Hessian Peace Prize for her commit­ment to the resolution of the conflict concerning the Iranian nuclear program and thereby her contribution rendered to securing peace. Under Mrs. Mogherini’s leadership the breakthrough in the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program that had been ongoing for twelve years could be achieved. The significance of the Action Plan for peace and stability in the region and beyond can­not be emphasized enough. It was because of the negotiation success  that a “military solution” to the nuclear conflict threatened by both USA and Israel – with unforeseeable consequences for the region - could be prevented. Ultimately, the success in ne­gotiations prove that diplomacy still fits as a suitable instrument for conflict resolution. Mrs. Mogherini achieved a tour de force by assuming the role of EU co­ordinator and “honest broker” at the same time and therefore leading the negotiations towards a qualified and effective conclusion.The mediatory role of Frederica Mogherini during the final stage  of negotiations was  emphasized by attendees.

In addition to her achievements in stabilizing peace the presentation of the Peace Prize highlights Mrs. Mogherini’s accomplish­ments with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. It is so far the greatest triumph of the EU on the global political stage. Mrs. Mogherini is not only appreciated by the international community because of her office, but for her crucial contribution to peace in 2015. For her extraordinary nego­tiating skills and her relentless dedi­cation to peace the board of trustees of the Hessian Peace Prize has awarded Frederica Mogherini with the Hessian Peace Prize 2016.”

The endowment of 25,000 € was donated by Frederica Mogherini to YaLa Young Leaders, one of the biggest peace move­ments in the Middle East.