Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been publicly recognized with the Peace Prize, a decision announced by a United Nations agency in a statement that underscored UNESCO’s role in welcoming refugees during times of crisis.
The jury expressed admiration for Merkel’s courageous choice to accept more than 1.2 million refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Eritrea in 2015. This bold move is presented as a historical lesson on humanitarian leadership and international responsibility, highlighted by UNESCO in its remarks during the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize discourse.
Director-General Audrey Azoulay spoke about Merkel’s choice, emphasizing that providing safe haven for immigrants and refugees stands as a fundamental challenge for the international community.
Azoulay noted that suffering crosses borders and the solutions to suffering must be universal. Building peace, she added, includes opening doors to those who endure hardship and displacement.
Merkel, who led Germany from 2005 to 2021, supported a number of European policies during the 2015 migration surge. The influx of refugees across Europe that year reached millions, with Germany hosting roughly 900,000 individuals in 2015 alone. This policy period remains a focal point of debate within German politics, drawing criticism from some quarters, particularly on the far right, where concerns about crime linked to refugees have been raised in public discourse. One notable episode cited in later discussions involved New Year’s Eve incidents in several cities, which intensified a broader conversation about integration and security.
The prize jury also included prominent figures such as the former IMF director general Michel Camdessus, Colombian writer Santiago Gamboa Samper, European astronaut Thomas Pesquet, American actor Forest Whitaker, and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Hayat Sindi. They extended special recognition to Julienne Lusenge for her tireless dedication to addressing sexual violence against women and girls, particularly in conflict-affected regions.
Lusenge, a Congolese activist based in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been a leading voice against the use of rape as a war weapon. Her ongoing work in defending the rights and safety of women places her at the forefront of global efforts to end gender-based violence and to secure justice for survivors.
The award, established in 1989, annually honors individuals, institutions, and organizations that have made significant contributions to the promotion and preservation of peace. The exact ceremony date for this edition has not yet been announced, and the prize continues a tradition of recognizing diverse acts and actors who advance peaceful coexistence on a global scale.
Past recipients include influential leaders and advocates such as Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, among others, whose legacies have shaped international norms around human rights, diplomacy, and peaceful conflict resolution.