PeaceJam Ghana to host Noble Peace laureate Betty Williams

The West Africa Centre for Peace Foundation, the official chapter of PeaceJam in Ghana will host Noble Peace laureate Betty Williams from Ireland during its two days youth leadership conference in Accra on June 24 and 25, 2017 at the University of Ghana.

During the conference, the youth (PeaceJammers) drawn from some Junior and Senior High schools in Accra and the Central Region with the help of some adult mentors will study the life and work of the Nobel Peace Laureate, learn about issues such as violence and intolerance facing young people today, and develop and implement service projects designed to address problems in their communities.

PeaceJam is an international education programme built around peace prize laureates who work with the youth to help pass on the spirit, skills and wisdom they embody. The programme sparks commitment to justice and peace, social responsibility, academic excellence and other values that seeks to inspire young people and make them transformational leaders who will cherish changing themselves and society for the better.

Betty Williams, born on May 22, 1943 at Belfast, Northern Ireland is a co-recipient with Mairead Corrigan of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work as a cofounder of Community of Peace People, an organisation dedicated to promoting a peaceful resolution to the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

She heads the Global Children's Foundation and is the President of the World Centre of Compassion for Children International. She is also the Chair of Institute for Asian Democracy in Washington D.C. and a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Nova Southeastern University.

She lectures widely on topics of peace, education, inter-cultural and inter-faith understanding, anti-extremism, and children's rights.

She is a founding member of the Nobel Laureate Summit, which has taken place annually since 2000. In 2006, Betty Williams founded the Nobel Women's Initiative along with Nobel Peace Laureates Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Jody Williams and Rigoberta Menchu Tum. These six women representing North and South America, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, bring together their experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. It is the goal of the Nobel Women’s Initiative to help strengthen works being done in support of women's rights around the world. Williams also is a member of PeaceJam.

Aside the Nobel Peace Prize, Betty Williams has won awards such as the People's Peace Prize of Norway in 1976, the Schweitzer Medallion for Courage, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the Eleanor Roosevelt Award in 1984, and the Frank Foundation Child Care International Oliver Award. In 1995 she was awarded the Rotary Club International "Paul Harris Fellowship: and the Together for Peace Building Award.