WORLD NEWS
October 15, 2001
A Peace Prize for the United Nations
The UN and its Secretary General share this year's Nobel Peace Prize
 Kofi Annan |
On Friday morning, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was awakened by a phone call with good news. Annan and the organization he heads had won one of the world's highest honors, the Nobel Peace Prize. "It was a wonderful way to wake up," Annan said. Honored by the award, Annan said the United Nations must work even harder to bring about peace, especially during America’s war against terrorism.
The United Nations Mission
The United Nations is an organization of representatives from 189 nations around the world. Together, they work for peace, security and economic and social justice for all people. Created after World War II in 1945, the UN today is the only place in which all nations -- no matter how rich or poor or large or small -- can meet to talk about the problems of the world.
 |  UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reviews an honor guard during an official visit to Lebanon. |
An Honor for Kofi Annan
Annan, 63, is from the African nation of Ghana. He began working for the UN's World Health Organization in 1962. He spent many years working on peacekeeping missions all over the world. In 1997, he was elected Secretary General, the UN's top leadership position. Today, Annan is working to reduce poverty and the number of people who have AIDS in every country. He is also working to bring about peace all over the world. Annan recently traveled to the Middle East to help peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. Today, he is focused on the fight against terrorism.
Happy Birthday, Nobel!
This year's peace award is particularly special because the Nobel Prizes are celebrating their 100th birthday! The prizes, which began in 1901, are awarded to people all over the world for their accomplishments in physics, chemistry, medicine, economics, literature and peace. A Swedish inventor named Alfred Nobel, who also invented dynamite, created the prize in 1896 to honor people who helped humanity in some way. This year's other Nobel winners include scientists, writers, and artists from the United States, England, Japan and Germany.
The True Prize
Officials from the Nobel Committee in Stockholm, Sweden said this year's peace prize choice is designed to show that the only "route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United Nations." They said the UN deserves praise for its work to bring about a better-organized and more peaceful world. For Annan, the peace prize is second to what he says would be the best reward of all. "The only true prize… will be peace itself," he said.
