Reconciliation Award

Last updated

The South African Institute for Justice and Reconciliation gives an annual Reconciliation Award to an individual, community or organisation in South Africa that has contributed, in one way or another, towards reconciliation. Through this award the Institute would like to acknowledge and showcase the recipients' approaches and strategies to enable reconciliation, whether they originate in the spheres of politics, media, business, culture, and academia or community service. The award is presented by the Institute's patron Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu.

Contents

Criteria for nominees

The nomination of a person or organisation has to be based on achievements accomplished or work done in any sphere of South African society up to and including the previous year (2011). This means it can span over a longer period of time but has to include the previous year. The achievements or work of nominees must be exceptional, in that they go beyond the call of duty and are innovative. The nominee must have made a major contribution to the road concept of reconciliation and to reconciliation in the field/context in which s/he is active. The nominee should provide a living testimony to the values of democracy, inclusivity and non-violence, in public and private life. The nominee should provide living testimony to the promotion of the values enshrined in our Constitution. Nominees may come from all walks of life. This means that the person/s/organisation can be from any sector. Nominees must be based in South Africa (although they do not have to have been born here) and the reconciliation work has to relate to achievements in South Africa. This requirement has been set out service logistical aspects of the awarding process. A person or organisation cannot nominate him/her/themselves. Only one nomination per person is allowed. A completed motivation and application form needs to be submitted.

Recipients

In previous years, the following recipients have received the Reconciliation award:

2021: Bhekisisa Centre for Health Journalism [1] - 'For contributing significantly to information sharing during the COVID-19 pandemic through their news reporting.'

2012: The Socio-Economic Rights Institute [2] - 'For keeping the Marikana victims and their families on the national agenda.'

2011: Ms Olga Macingwane - 'For her continued commitment to community reconciliation.'

2010: Insufficient applications

2009: Judge Albie Sachs - 'For realising reconciliation through his life and work.'

2008: Shine Centre - 'For helping, through volunteerism, foundation phase learners with literacy.'

2007: The community of Masiphumelele - 'For setting an example in promoting tolerance towards foreign nationals, and in striving to ensure dignity and justice for all in their community.'

2006: Ouma Grietjie Adams -'For holding the community together in mourning, conflict and celebration.'

2005: Brigalia Bam - 'For her role in enabling peaceful democratic elections'

2004: Mary Burton - 'For her work in the Black Sash and elsewhere'

2003: Dullah and Farieda Omar - 'For their contribution to the TRC process'

2002: PJ Powers and Sibongile Khumalo - 'For singing one another's songs'

2001: Pieter Dirk Uys - 'For enabling us to laugh at ourselves'

2000: Tim Modise - 'For getting the nation talking'

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)</span> Restorative justice tribunal in post-apartheid South Africa

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice body assembled in South Africa in 1996 after the end of apartheid. Authorised by Nelson Mandela and chaired by Desmond Tutu, the commission invited witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations to give statements about their experiences, and selected some for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubuntu philosophy</span> Southern African philosophy

Ubuntu describes a set of closely related African-origin value systems that emphasize the interconnectedness of individuals with their surrounding societal and physical worlds. "Ubuntu" is sometimes translated as "I am because we are", or "humanity towards others". In Xhosa, the latter term is used, but is often meant in a more philosophical sense to mean "the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity".

The Sydney Peace Prize is awarded by the Sydney Peace Foundation, a non profit organisation associated with the University of Sydney. The prize promotes peace with justice and the practice of nonviolence. It aims to encourage public interest and discussion about issues of peace, social justice, human rights, and non-violent conflict resolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Lapsley</span> South African Anglican priest

Alan Michael Lapsley, SSM is a South African Anglican priest and social justice activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmond Tutu</span> South African bishop and anti-apartheid activist (1931–2021)

Desmond Tutu was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Elders (organization)</span> Organization founded by Nelson Mandela

The Elders is an international non-governmental organisation of public figures noted as senior statesmen, peace activists and human rights advocates, who were brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007. They describe themselves as "independent global leaders working together for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet". The goal Mandela set for The Elders was to use their "almost 1,000 years of collective experience" to work on solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems such as climate change, HIV/AIDS, and poverty, as well as to "use their political independence to help resolve some of the world's most intractable conflicts".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Solomon Islands)</span>

The Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is a commission officially established by the government of Solomon Islands in September 2008. It has been formed to investigate the causes of the ethnic violence that gripped Solomon Islands between 1997 and 2003. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is the first of its kind in the Pacific Islands region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sekai Holland</span> Zimbabwean former politician

Sekai Holland is a Zimbabwean former politician who served as Minister of State for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration in the administrations of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Sekai has been involved in campaigning on a number of human rights issues, including those relating to Aboriginal Australians, apartheid in South Africa and the women's rights and democracy in Zimbabwe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute for Justice and Reconciliation</span>

The Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) is a non-governmental organisation and think tank based in Cape Town, South Africa. It was forged out of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2000. The aim was to ensure that lessons learnt from South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy were taken into account as the nation moved ahead. Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu was the patron of the IJR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Forgiveness Project</span>

The Forgiveness Project is a UK-based charity that uses real stories of victims and perpetrators of crime and violence to help people explore ideas around forgiveness and alternatives to revenge. With no political or religious affiliations, The Forgiveness Project's independent and inclusive approach ensures its core message – that everyone has the potential to change their perspective and break the cycle of vengeance – resonates across all cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reconciliation theology</span> Theological approach to political conflict

Reconciliation theology or the theology of reconciliation raises crucial theological questions about how reconciliation can be brought into regions of political conflict. The term differs from the conventional theological understanding of reconciliation, but likewise emphasises themes of justice, truth, forgiveness and repentance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubuntu theology</span>

Ubuntu theology is a Southern African Christian perception of the African Ubuntu philosophy that recognizes the humanity of a person through a person's relationship with other persons. It is best known through the writings of the Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu, who, drawing from his Christian faith, theologized Ubuntu by a model of forgiveness in which human dignity and identity are drawn from the image of the triune God. Human beings are called to be persons because they are created in the image of God.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda-Gail Bekker</span> Zimbabwean physician & academic

Linda-Gail Bekker MBChB, DTMH, DCH, FCP(SA) is a Professor of Medicine and Chief Operating Officer of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. She is also Director of the Desmund Tutu HIV Centre at the University of Cape Town. She is a Past President of the International AIDS Society (2016-18).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeremariam Fre</span> Eritrean-British environmentalist (b. 1951)

Zeremariam Fre is an agriculturalist, specialising in the drylands, and is of dual Eritrean-British nationality. He is the founder and former director of the Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA), where he now serves on the Board of Trustees as Treasurer.

Erik Doxtader is a scholar of rhetoric and critical theory. Born in Fort Collins, Colorado, Doxtader took a BA at the University of Kansas and both an MA and Ph.D. from the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University.

Divina Stella Maloum is an activist from Cameroon. She is the founder of Children for Peace (C4P) in Cameroon. She set up the organisation when she was 11 or 12 years old. She was inspired by children who were exploited, child marriages and child soldiers. She uses cartoons to communicate with children to avoid language barriers. She is a changemaker for peace. On November 20, 2019 - World Children's Day, when she was 14, she was joint winner of the International Children's Peace Prize together with Greta Thunberg. She was one of 137 applicants from 56 countries. The winners were announced by Desmond Tutu and the award was presented by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Kailash Satyarthi in a ceremony at The Hague. The prize was 100,000 euros to be spent on their cause.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa</span> International NGO focused on Horn of Africa

The Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa (PENHA) is an international non-governmental organisation, founded in 1989 by professionals and development workers from the Horn of Africa to address pastoral and agro-pastoral development from a regional perspective and provide cross-learning at a global level. With headquarters in London, PENHA has established country offices in Ethiopia and Somaliland, with close organisational partnerships in Eritrea, Sudan and Uganda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 Nobel Prize in Literature</span> Award

The 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the South African activist and writer Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014) "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity." She is the 7th female and first South African recipient of the prize followed by J. M. Coetzee in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omowumi Ogunrotimi</span> Lawyer and gender advocate

Omowumi Ogunrotimi is a Nigerian multidisciplinary legal practitioner, founder and executive director of Gender Mobile Initiative. She has worked in over 50 rural communities advocating for safe spaces for vulnerable populations, particularly girls and women.

Thomas Madikwe Manthata was a South African activist who was active in the anti-apartheid movement. After the end of apartheid, he served as a member both of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and of the South African Human Rights Commission.

References

  1. Kambule, Samantha. "Bhekisisa wins the 2021 Reconciliation Award for its role in reporting on the COVID pandemic". IJR. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  2. "Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa". seri-sa.org. Retrieved 14 January 2014.