Mandela recipient of Gülen Institute's 2010 Peace Award
The US-based Gülen Institute has bestowed its biennial Peace Award on former South African President Nelson Mandela.
The Gülen Institute Peace Awards are presented biennially to individuals or institutions that have significantly contributed to peace along with its foundations, such as social justice, social harmony, social welfare, interfaith and intercultural dialogue and conflict resolution in any field of human endeavor including community service, public service, mass communication, publication, education, scientific research and the arts.
An award ceremony was recently held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, but the 93-year-old Mandela was unable to attend the ceremony because of health reasons. The foundation's resource development manager, Ruth Rensburg, received the award on behalf of Mandela.
The Gülen Institute was established in October 2007 as a non-profit organization and a joint initiative by the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work and the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue. The perspective of the institute is inspired by the life and works of distinguished contemporary scholar Fethullah Gülen.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Gülen Institute Chairman Ali Riza Çandir said the institute decided to give the 2010 Peace Award to Mandela for his contributions to peace, dialogue and social justice, which have been a source of inspiration for millions.
The awards are given at both the national and global levels based on the scale of the impact of the recipient's contribution to peace. The awards consist of a certificate, a plaque and a check for $10,000 for each global-level award recipient and $5,000 for each national-level award recipient.
Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, near Umtata in South Africa. He studied law and in 1944 joined the African National Congress (ANC) Youth League. He became a symbol for equal rights and justice in the fight against apartheid. After being convicted of a conspiracy to overthrow the government he spent 27 years in jail. He was finally released in 1990. In 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. From 1994 to 1999 he was the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Mandela announced in 2004 that he was leaving politics to spend more time with his family.
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