Hessian Peace Prize 2014 will be awarded to Rubem César Fernandes

Award recipient of the Hessian Peace Prize 2014 will be the founder of the Brazilian charity organization "Viva Rio", Rubem César Fernandes

 

The Board of Trustees of the Hessian Peace Prize will give the award endowed with 25.000 euros to Rubem César Fernandes, founder and executive director of the Brazilian charity organization "Viva Rio", on 24th July 2014. The laudatory speech will be held by Prof. Dr. Michael Brzoska, Academic Director at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.


Prof. Dr. Harald Müller from the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt explains the Board's choice: "Rubem César Fernandes conducts numerous projects with his organization Viva Rio in order to promote a culture of peace and social inclusion by engaging in research, on-site work and policy development. The fields of action include not only education, sports and arts, but also healthcare and environmental protection and also security and prevention of violence. For instance, in the course of the project 'Rio Desarma-se" (Rio, disarm!) 100.000 private weapons were handed in voluntarily and then destroyed. Viva Rio also made significant contributions to legal changes, as a consequence of which the number of homicides decreased by 28 percent over four years."


The Hessian Peace Prize and  the Board of Trustees were founded in 1993 by former Minister-President Albert Osswald. The prize is endowed with 25.000 euros. The award ceremony will be held at the music hall of the Hessian parliament on 24th July 2014 at 11 am.