Max Schmidheiny Foundation Freedom Prize for 2002 awarded to Ruud Lubbers
St. Gallen (ots)
On Saturday, May 25, in St. Gallen, Ruud Lubbers, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, was presented with the Max Schmidheiny Foundation's Freedom Prize for the year 2002. The presentation took place at the 32nd ISC-Symposiums in the great hall of the University of St. Gallen. An audience of more than 800 guests from all over the world heard Prof. Dr. Klaus Vallender, President of the Jury, describe the achievements of the prizewinner.
Every year, the Max Schmidheiny Foundation honours persons and institutions who have contributed to the maintenance and further development of a free social and economic order. It thereby promotes outstanding scientific, political and entrepreneurial initiatives and achievements that safeguard individual freedom and responsibility. This year's value of the prize is CHF 100,000.-; it was awarded for the 24th time.
Ruud Lubbers has been honoured as a politician who, as Prime Minister of the Netherlands for three legislative periods, played a decisive role in advancing the modernisation of his country by accepting as a challenge the initial currents of an "unfolding" world and, as the guiding light of the "Dutch Model", created trust between the social partners, bringing about the higher employment that boosted and lifted the Dutch economy out of a deep crisis. With perseverance and determination, Ruud Lubbers promoted sustainable business development in the sense of a symbiosis between politics, business and civil society which must take equal account of social questions and the embedding of decisions within the democratic process, and thus ultimately appeals to every citizen's global solidarity and respect for the environment. As United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers acts as advocate representing more than 22 million refugees who, in times of unrelenting crises and an increasing readiness to embark on military intervention, assumes the Herculean task of restoring the foundations of a free society with courage and dedication by providing justice, protection and assistance to the victims of armed conflict and domestic disorder and, fuelled by the example of countless men and women who uphold the ideals of freedom and humanity throughout the world, becomes a crucial link in the co-ordinated efforts to maintain peace, security and stability in all regions of the world.
Contact:
Max Schmidheiny Foundation
at the University of St. Gallen
P.O. Box 1045
CH-9001 St. Gallen
Phone +41/71/227'20'70
Further information (including photographic material):
http://www.ms-foundation.org and
http://www.isc-symposium.org