Nino Kalandarishvili wins Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize

Nino Kalandarishvili got honored with the first Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize for her long lasting efforts in the peace processes in Georgia. The award ceremony took place on the 8 of May in Zugdidi. The event got initiated from the youth initiative group ‘Trust for Peace’ in cooperation with the Embassy of Austria to Georgia under the patronage of Zugdidi Municipality City Hall. The award was supported by the ‘Bertha von Suttner Peace Institute’, the organization ‘Act for Transformation’, the Publishing House ‘Intellect’ and the ‘Women’s Network for Peace’.

The Bertha von Suttner Peace Prize got established to worship the contribution of activists participating in peacemaking activities, promoting peaceful attitudes in the society and encouraging young people in the process of building trust. The award is inspired and named after Bertha von Suttner, a European pacifist and writer who lived for several years in Zugdidi; she was the first woman, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905.

The prize, which from now on will be awarded annually, is the first award in Georgia to be located in Zugdidi. The choice of location is having an important connection to the award itself, as Suttner used to live in the town. Besides Zugdidi is the nearest city to the border of Abkhazia and further having a special importance in Georgian Peace Processes; in the ceremony it got titled as the ‘city of peace’. The borderline to Abkhazia is still witnessing arrests of innocent civilians and the separation of peaceful living families.

Nino Kalandarishvili, chair of the Institute for the Study of Nationalism and Conflicts (http://isnc.ge/), has been passionately working for years on conflict resolution issues. Her work included confidence building measures, civil dialogue processes between conflict sides as well as work with internally displaced persons and their integration. As a mediator and expert she organized and took part in diverse projects dealing with conflict resolution in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Kalandarishvili is an inspirational peace worker, who works at eye level with politicans, diplomats and other experts, as well as with youth in engaging new and innovative approaches. The award worships her encouraged work that combines a high level of knowledge and expertise with an inspirational and outstanding personality.

By Lisa Maier

Photo Source: Facebook Nino Kalandarishvili