Common Ground Awards 2004

The Common Ground Awards are presented annually to recognize outstanding accomplishments in conflict resolution, community building, and peacemaking. Recipients have made important contributions toward bridging the divides between people, finding solutions to seemingly intractable problems, and providing hope where there often was none. This year's seven recipients have taken significant steps to reduce violent conflict and promote understanding in the United States and around the world.

The Awards will be presented at The Embassy of Austria on March 18th, under the auspices of Ambassador H.E. Eva Nowotny.

Recipients of the 2004 Common Ground Awards are:

• Common Ground Lifetime Achievement Award presented to Harold "Hal" Saunders, one of the pioneers of the conflict resolution field, a former U.S. diplomat, president of the International Institute for Sustained Dialogue, director of International Affairs at the Kettering Foundation, former member of the National Security Council Staff in the White House and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs.





• Common Ground International Diplomacy Award presented to Atal Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India, and Gen. Pervez Musharraf, President of Pakistan for their courageous commitment to re-launch a peace process between their two countries.



• Common Ground International Peacemaking Award presented to the Community of Sant'Egidio, a Christian lay movement of 40,000 members, to acknowledge, among other accomplishments, its role as a behind-the-scenes facilitator in the Mozambique peace process.



• Common Ground Reconciliation through the Arts Award presented to the Pontanima Choir from Sarajevo, an interfaith group formed in 1996, composed of Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Muslims, and Jews, dedicated to the healing of post-war Bosnia through the spirituality of music and the peace potential of religions.



• Common Ground Sports through Diplomacy Award presented to Breaking the Ice, a joint expedition of four Israelis and four Palestinians to Antarctica in January 2004 aiming at providing an inspirational model for cooperation and mutual understanding in the Middle East.



• Common Ground Interfaith Cooperation Award presented to Reverend James Movel Wuye and Iman Muhammed Nurayn Ashafa, former adversaries, now co-directors of the Inter-Faith Mediation Centre in Kaduna, Nigeria, for their work in reducing community violence.



• Common Ground Community Peacebuilding Award presented to Carolina RAIN, a community network of different faith traditions, reaching out to provide HIV/AIDS care and education.

2004 Common Ground Awards
March 18th
8:00pm Awards Ceremony

Embassy of Austria
6:30pm Reception/Dinner

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