Nobel Prize Chairman Urges Vigilance

The Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee Thorbjørn Jagland told a crowd of undergraduates, faculty members, and distinguished guests to remain vigilant in defense of human rights throughout the world last night at a dinner co-sponsored by the Harvard Foundation and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

Jagland, who was presented with the 2010 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award for his work supporting efforts to uphold human rights and civil rights, urged the audience to be curious, to keep an open mind, and not to be indifferent to the repression of human rights in order to preserve them.

“You have to see that something is bigger than yourself, something which you can struggle for,” he said.

Jagland, who has served at the helm of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee since 2009, said that people who win the Peace Prize exemplify these tenets.

He said that U.S. President Barack Obama was given the award last year for reaching out to the Muslim world, working with the Russians on disarmament, and attempting to broker peace negotiations among Israelis and Palestinians.

Jagland said his commitment to maintaining human and civil rights was inspired by the American Civil Rights Movement.

“It is the movement that has influenced the world the most,” he said. “It proved that it was possible to achieve human rights through democratic means.”

Director of the Harvard Foundation S. Allen Counter and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals Professor Peter J. Gomes presented the Humanitarian award to Jagland to “honor his notable contribution to humanitarianism in the cause of peace.”

The humanitarian award is given to an individual whose works on behalf of humanity deserve special recognition.

“[The Nobel Peace Prize Committee] makes an effort to take a position on the international stage for peace, human rights, and civil rights,” Counter said. “[Jagland] has been the leader of that effort to recognize and support individuals who are at the forefront of the struggle for human rights and civil rights.”

Omer Aftab ’11, an applied math concentrator from Leverett House, said he enjoyed Jagland’s remarks.

“[Not to be indifferent] is a message that I wouldn’t mind being reminded of often,” he said.  “Especially at a place where 50 percent of the graduates go into i-banking, people need to know where they are going.”