Ambassador of Conscience Award

Ambassador of Conscience Award

The Ambassador of Conscience Award is Amnesty International's most prestigious human rights award. It is given annually to individuals who show exceptional leadership in the fight to protect and promote human rights. The Award aims to promote the work of Amnesty International by association with the life, work and example of its ‘Ambassadors’.

Art for Amnesty, Amnesty International's global artist liaison project, organizes the annual Award Ceremonies drawing on the generosity and inspiration of Artists and the Arts.

Art for Amnesty brings together artists of all disciplines and friends of Amnesty International to support the Organization's work.

The inspiration for the award comes from a poem written for Amnesty International by Irish Nobel prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney called "The Republic of Conscience."

: From the Republic of Conscience: : I: : When I landed in the republic of conscience: it was so noiseless when the engines stopped: I could hear a curlew high above the runway: : At immigration, the clerk was an old man: who produced a wallet from his homespun coat: and showed me a photograph of my grandfather: : The woman in customs asked me to declare: the words of our traditional cures and charms: to heal dumbness and avert the evil eye: : No porters. No interpreter. No taxi.: You carried your own burden and very soon: your symptoms of creeping privilege disappeared: : II: : Fog is a dreaded omen there, but lightning: spells universal good and parents hang: swaddled infants in trees during thunder storms: : Salt is their precious mineral. And seashells: are held to the ear during births and funerals.: The base of all inks and pigments is seawater: : Their sacred symbol is a stylized boat: The sail is an ear, the mast a sloping pen,: The hull a mouth-shape, the keel an open eye.: : At their inauguration, public leaders: must swear to uphold unwritten law and weep: to atone for their presumption to hold office: : and to affirm their faith that all life sprang: from salt in tears which the sky-god wept: after he dreamt his solitude was endless: : III: : I came back from that frugal republic: with my two arms the one length, the customs woman: having insisted my allowance was myself: : The old man rose and gazed into my face: and said that was official recognition: that I was now a dual citizen: : He therefore desired me when I got home: to consider myself a representative: and to speak on their behalf in my own tongue: : Their embassies, he said, were everywhere: but operated independently: and no ambassador would ever be relieved

Recipients

* 2006 - Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa

* 2005 - Irish rock band U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness

* 2004 - Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:: - Hilda Morales Trujillo, Guatemalan women's rights activist

* 2003 - Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic

External links

* [http://www.artforamnesty.org/aoc/index.html Official website]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Conscience — Not to be confused with consciousness. For other uses, see Conscience (disambiguation). Vincent van Gogh, 1890. Kröller Müller Museum. The Good Samaritan (after Delacroix). Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the …   Wikipedia

  • Mary Robinson — For other people named Mary Robinson, see Mary Robinson (disambiguation). Mary Robinson Robinson in 2009 7th President of Ireland In office 3 December 1990 – 12 September 1997 …   Wikipedia

  • List of Nelson Mandela awards and honours — This is a comprehensive list of awards, honours and other recognitions bestowed on Nelson Mandela. Mandela has received more than one hundred awards over four decades, most notably the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.From 1994 to 1999, Mandela was… …   Wikipedia

  • Václav Havel — Infobox President name=Václav Havel nationality = flagicon|CZE Czech Republic order=1st office=President of the Czech Republic term start=February 2, 1993 term end=February 2, 2003 primeminister=Václav Klaus, Josef Tošovský, Miloš Zeman, Vladimír …   Wikipedia

  • U2 — Infobox musical artist Name = U2 Img capt = U2 performing at Madison Square Garden in November 2005 Img size = 250 Landscape = yes Background = group or band Alias = Origin = Dublin, Ireland Genre = Rock, post punk, alternative rock Years active …   Wikipedia

  • Aung San Suu Kyi — အောင်ဆန်းစုကြည်[1] Suu Kyi in 2011 General Secretary of the National League for Democracy …   Wikipedia

  • Peter Gabriel — Infobox Musical artist Name = Peter Gabriel Img capt = Peter Gabriel at Chateau Neuf, Oslo, Norway, 31 August 1978. Photo: Helge Øverås Background = solo singer Born = Birth date and age|1950|2|13|df=yes Origin = Chobham, Surrey, England… …   Wikipedia

  • Mothers of the Disappeared — For the organization, see Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Mothers of the Disappeared Song by U2 from the album The Joshua Tree Released 9 March 1987 Recorded July–December 1986 at Melbeach in Dublin Ge …   Wikipedia

  • 2006 in South Africa — See also: 2005 in South Africa, other events of 2006, 2006 in South African sport, 2007 in South Africa and the Timeline of South African history. Events January * 10 January 3 miners are killed and 4 others are injured when a magnitude 2.4… …   Wikipedia

  • Gabriel, Peter — ▪ British musician born Feb. 13, 1950, Woking, Surrey, Eng.       former lead singer of the progressive rock (art rock) band Genesis and solo artist known for the intelligence and depth of his lyrics and for his commitment to various political… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”