Betty Williams
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Betty Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Mairead Corrigan, for campaigning against the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
Full name: Elizabeth Williams
Born: 22 May 1943, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died: 17 March 2020, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date awarded: 10 October 1977
Building peace from the bottom up
In 1976 three children lost their lives in the wake of violence between British soldiers and a member of the IRA in Belfast. The tragic event led office worker Betty Williams to oppose the meaningless violence between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. She received support from the dead children’s aunt, Mairead Corrigan, and together they founded the Community of Peace People. Betty Williams had a Protestant father and Catholic mother. Her background of religious tolerance motivated her to work for peace. In the early 1970s she took part in an anti-violence campaign led by a Protestant clergyman before dedicating herself to the Community of Peace People. The organisation established local peace groups comprised of former adversaries, arranging peace marches and working to build trust at the grassroots level.
"Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan have shown us what ordinary people can do to promote the cause of peace. They have taught us that the peace for which we strive is something that has to be won within and through the individual human being. This is the message to which they have given renewed force through their activities."
- Egil Aarvik, Presentation Speech, 10 December 1977.
| IRA Irish Republican Army. Founded in 1919. Played a decisive role in the war of liberation against Great Britain. Its goal is to unify Ireland. Starting in 1970, the IRA committed acts of terrorism and assassination in Northern Ireland and England. In 2000 the IRA agreed to abandon its armed struggle. |
"She had originally sympathized with the Northern Irish revolutionaries, but she had come to realize that violence only breeds violence and makes victims of the innocent."
- Irwin Abrams (US historian), 1988.
World Centers of Compassion for Children International
In 1997 Betty Williams founded the World Centers of Compassion for Children International (WCCCI) with the aim of safeguarding the rights of children and developing an international network to influence governments throughout the world. The WCCCI seeks to enhance legislation and relief measures for children. The organisation also focuses on developing positive role models for young people.
The Declaration of the Peace People of 1976
We want to live and love and build a just and peaceful society. We want for our children, as we want for ourselves, our lives at home, at work and at play, to be lives of joy and peace. We recognise that to build such a life demands of all of us, dedication, hard work and courage. We recognise that there are many problems in our society which are a source of conflict and violence. We recognise that every bullet fired and every exploding bomb makes that work more difficult. We reject the use of the bomb and the bullet and all the techniques of violence. We dedicate ourselves to working with our neighbours, near and far, day in and day out, to building that peaceful society in which the tragedies we have known are a bad memory and a continuing warning.
"We believe in taking down the barriers, but we also believe in the most energetic reconciliation among peoples by getting them to know each other, talk each other's languages, understand each other's fears and beliefs, getting to know each other physically, philosophically and spiritually."
- Betty Williams, Nobel Prize lecture, 11 December 1977.
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Nobel Prizes and laureates
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