OPCW "great choice" for Nobel Peace Prize

OPCW "great choice" for Nobel Peace Prize

The Norwegian Nobel Committee just announced that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) receives this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The news comes two weeks after Paul Walker, an expert for chemical weapons and their global elimination was named a recipient of the 2013 Right Livelihood Award “for working tirelessly to rid the world of chemical weapons”.

Walker has been cooperating closely with the OPCW since its inception. He has engaged government leaders, NGOs, think tanks and citizens’ groups around the world to work towards full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and for a world free from the dangers of chemical weapons. Walker also led the effort to establish the CWC Coalition, an international NGO network to support the Chemical Weapons Convention and the OPCW.

Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, welcomes the Nobel Comittee's choice: "The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is a great choice for the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Just as our choice of Paul Walker for the Right Livelihood Award, it shows that multilateral processes and the technical solutions to rid the world of chemical weapons do exist. Walker needs the OPCW for his work and the OPCW, I think, has profited a lot from his support."

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