Five Nobel Peace Prize laureates are among the speakers at the annual Nobel Peace Conference in Oslo 31 August. Indigenous rights and the situation for human rights activists in Russia and Iran are on the agenda.
For the third consecutive year, the Nobel Peace Center is arranging an international peace conference and festival about the latest peace prize. This year, Nobel Prize laureates, young activists and experts gather in Oslo to discuss the contribution human rights defenders make to democracy and peace. The conference is called Human Rights Heroes and is held in Oslo and online on 31 August. The conference programme was launched today.
“The conference and festival end a full year of events about last year’s peace prize. With this event, we want to contribute to giving the Nobel Peace Prize a long-lasting, positive effect on the important issues the prize winners are fighting for”, said Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Center, Kjersti Fløgstad.
The Nobel Peace Prize to the Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russia organization Memorial, and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties was announced in October last year. They received the award for their efforts to document war crimes, human rights violations, and abuse of power. On 31 August, the representatives of the three laureates will return to Oslo to participate in the Nobel Peace Conference together with two other Nobel laureates. The Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi, who is supporting the women’s rights activists in her home country from exile, is to hold the opening keynote. Rigoberta Menchú Tum from Guatemala is meeting the Norwegian Sámi activist Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen to discuss indigenous rights. In addition, Beatrice Fihn, who led the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons, which was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, will meet the Norwegian climate activist Gina Gylver. For the full conference programme, see the Nobel Peace Center’s website.
“The people who are fighting for our common rights are facing threats and prosecution many places in the world. The conference will celebrate their brave work and provide support for future actions”, said Fløgstad.