Women Building Peace
January 2011
Banner photo: Syria [© Bruno Morandi/Hemis/Corbis]
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Attend SGI Book Donation Ceremony
Betty Williams speaking at ISA [Kingmond Young]
SGI-USA sponsored a book donation ceremony at the International Studies Academy (ISA) in San Francisco, California, on October 5. Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Betty Williams and Shirin Ebadi attended and addressed the student body at the ceremony.
The SGI donated 300 books on peace and human rights to the school's library, including works by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Dr. Ebadi and SGI President Daisaku Ikeda.
On October 4, Mrs. Williams and Dr. Ebadi joined the International Committee of Artists for Peace (ICAP) in opening "The Century of Women" exhibition held at the San Francisco War Memorial Performing Arts Center's Green Room.
The exhibition highlights women who have taken a leading role in the quest for global security and equal rights, based on the awareness that the continuing empowerment of women throughout the world is key to solving the world's most pressing issues.
Mrs. Williams, together with Mairead Corrigan Maguire, was awarded the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to restore peace in Northern Ireland. Dr. Ebadi is a human rights attorney and 2003 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
ICAP, which includes a number of leading artists who are members of the SGI, collaborates with individuals and organizations that share its mission for peace, employing dialogue and the arts to instill the ideals of humanism and nonviolence in today's youth. To this endeavor, ICAP has sponsored concerts, exhibits and dialogues in support of the United Nations Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.
