Félix Houphouët-Boigny
António Costa designated 2024 winner of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny UNESCO Peace Prize
The Jury of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny UNESCO Peace Prize has designated Mr António Luís Santos da Costa, former Prime Minister of Portugal and future President of the European Council.
“We have decided to award this Prize to Prime Minister António Costa, for his life’s work and for the constancy with which he has maintained, in his role a leading political figure, a commitment to peace and the promotion of developing countries.” - Michel Camdessus, Vice-President of the Jury and former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.
“In a fragmented world facing immense challenges, we need political leaders who are committed to building lasting peace. I am delighted that the jury has chosen António Luís Santos da Costa, who has always distinguished himself as a great defender of dialogue and multilateralism.” - Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General.
The jury also decided to award an 'honourable mention' to the Fundación de Desarrollo Social Afroecuatoriana AZÚCAR, presided over by Mrs. Sonia Viveros, for its work in promoting recognition and respect for the rights of Afro-descendants, not only in Ecuador, where it is based, but also throughout Latin America.
The date and venue of the 2024 Prize ceremony will be announced shortly.
Nelson Mandela International Day 18 July
On the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day 2024, the Organization celebrates the first and 1991 co-winner of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize “in tribute to his efforts to educate the South African people towards a better mutual understanding”.
“… permit me to express my profound and heartfelt appreciation of this honour that the Jury of the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Foundation for Peace Research has deemed fit to bestow on me. I accept this esteemed Prize in all humility and in full knowledge that it is not the individual, Nelson Mandela, who is being so honoured, but rather the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa, with which my life has been so intertwined.”
Mr Nelson Mandela
Co-Prizewinner 1991
Address at the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize Award Ceremony
UNESCO, 3 February 1992
The Félix Houphouët-Boigny UNESCO Peace Prize
The Félix Houphouët-Boigny UNESCO Peace Prize is intended to honour living individuals and active public or private bodies or institutions that have made a significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO.
The Prize was established in 1989 by a resolution supported by 120 countries and adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 25th session. It is in line with the philosophy of UNESCO’s founders who, in the preamble to the Organization’s Constitution, solemnly declare that: “Since wars begin in the minds of men and women, it is in the minds of men and women that the defences of peace must be constructed.”
Since its creation, this Prize has attracted considerable attention to UNESCO’s work in the field of peace promotion and research. Within 30 years, after of receiving the Prize, many winners have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. These winners include Nelson Mandela, Frederik Willem de Klerk, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Jimmy Carter, Martti Ahtisaari... The award ceremonies have always been occasions on which many Heads of State and eminent personalities visit UNESCO. By means of a resolution adopted by the Conference of Heads of State and Government, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) meeting at its 28th Summit, held in Dakar in June 1992, threw its full weight behind the Prize and its objectives. Lastly, in December 1996, the United Nations General Assembly, at its 51st session, gave support to the Prize through the adoption of its resolution . In 2009, 93 accredited journalists attended the ceremony, as did many representatives of accredited radio and television stations and more than 50 articles were published.
"In the quest for peace, true peace, fair and lasting peace, we must not hesitate for a single moment to resort, with persistence, to dialogue."
Contact information
Secretariat of the Prize
Sector for Priority Africa and External Relations of UNESCO
7 place de Fontenoy
75352 Paris 07 SP FRANCE
E-mail: PrixFHB@unesco.org