The Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those devoting themselves to interreligious co-operation in the cause of peace and to make their achievements known. The Foundation hopes that the prize will further promote interreligious co-operation for peace and lead to the emergence of ever more people devoting themselves to this cause.
The award is given annually and consists of a certificate, a gold medal and an amount of 20 million yen (roughly US$180,000). The screening committee, which decides the recipients, is made up of religious leaders of international stature, who select the recipient from among candidates who are nominated by religious leaders and other persons of intellectual stature around the world.
The Tokyo based Niwano Peace Foundation was initiated by the Japanese citizen Nikkyō Niwano, founder of the Buddhist lay organization Risshō Kōsei Kai; he was one of the few non-Christian observers of the Second Vatican Council. His son, Nichiko Niwano, is his successor as chairman of the movement, which is dedicated to the interreligious dialogue.
1983: Dom
Hélder Câmara, Brazil1984:
Homer A. Jack, USA1985:
Zhao Puchu, China1986:
Philip A. Potter, Dominica1987:
World Muslim Congress, Pakistan1988: not awarded1989:
Etai Yamada, Japan1990:
Norman Cousins, USA1991: Dr.
Hildegard Goss-Mayr, Austria1992: A. T. Ariyaratne, Sri Lanka1993:
Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, Israel1994: Cardinal
Paulo Evaristo Arns, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil1995: M. Aram, India1996:
Marii Hasegawa, USA1997:
Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland1998:
Maha Ghosananda, Cambodia1999:
Community of Sant'Egidio, Italy2000: Dr. Kang Won Yong, Korea2001:
Elias Chacour, bishop of the Melkite-Catholic Church in Israel2002: Samuel Ruiz García, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico2003: Dr. Scilla Elworthy2004: Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI), Uganda2005: Dr.
Hans Küng, Germany2006:
Rabbis for Human Rights, Israël2007: Master
Cheng Yen, founder of Tzu-Chi, the
Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation, Taiwan2008: Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Jordan2009: Reverend Canon
Gideon Byamugisha, Uganda2010:
Ela Bhatt, India2011:
Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand2012:
Rosalina Tuyuc, Guatemala2013:
Gunnar Stålsett, Norway 2014: Dena Merriam, USA2015: Pastor
Esther Ibanga, Nigeria2016: Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR), Sri Lanka
