Conference 2001
On the heels of Mother Theresa: GEOEC 2001 Presenter Wins UNESCO Award
October 4, 2000
Dr. Toh Swee-Hin has just been awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education for the Year 2000. The Prize is awarded annually to an individual or organization for contributions over an extended period of time to education for peace and related fields such as human rights and international understanding. Dr. Toh was designated as the winner of this year’s prize on the unanimous recommendation of an international jury which met on September 11 and 12 at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
In nominating Dr. Toh to receive this year’s prize, the jury sought to reward “the candidate’s exceptional contribution to the promotion of the ideals of peace and nonviolence and for his practical action in favour of peace through the education of a wide range of social actors.” A professor and researcher at the University of Alberta, Dr. Toh has helped to pioneer and promote peace education in many countries – such as Australia, Canada, Uganda, South Africa, Jamaica, Japan and the USA – but above all in Mindanao, Philippines, a site of longstanding armed, social and cultural conflicts. As Director of the Centre for International Education and Development in the University of Alberta from 1994 to 1999, Dr. Toh was able to integrate peace education into several bilateral educational development projects in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. He has always been very active in numerous international associations, networks and agencies that promote peace education.
Dr. Toh is co-founder and past president of the LINGAP (Learning for Global Interdependence and Awareness of the Philippines) Institute based in Edmonton. Through his leadership together with other officers and members, LINGAP has undertaken significant steps to promote better Philippine-Canadian relationship and understanding of Philippine history, culture, and development. Dr. Toh is also Coordinator of the Edmonton Culture of Peace Committee established to commemorate this year as the International Year for the Culture of Peace.
Previous winners of the Prize include the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Paulo Freire of Brazil, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and Nobel Peace Laureates Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the Guatemalan Human Rights advocate.
The prize-giving ceremony will take place on the 11th of December at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
Toh Swee-Hin (S.H.Toh) PhD Professor, International/Intercultural
Education, Dept. of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G5
Telephone: +1-780-492-2556
Fax: +1-780=492-0762
E-mail: s.h.toh@ualberta.ca
Dr. Toh is presenting as part of the Twelve Voyages portion of Conference 2001. Click here for more information.
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