Rev. Dionysius Mintoff nominated for the Felix Houphouet-BoignyUNESCO Peace Prize 2019

Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela has submitted the nomination of Rev. Dionysius Mintoff, Founder of the John XXIII Peace Laboratory, for the Felix HouphouetBoigny-UNESCO Peace Prize 2019.

Created in 1990, the Felix Houphouet-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize aims at honouring living individuals and active public or private bodies or institutions that have made a significant contribution to promoting, seeking, safeguarding or maintaining peace in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

A call for nominations was issued by UNESCO to member states and is awarded every two years selected by the Director General of UNESCO based on assessments and recommendations made by a high-level international jury.

The Felix Houphouet-BoignyUNESCO Peace Prize is sponsored by Abdou Diouf, former President of Senegal and the Patron of the Prize is Konan Bédié, former President of Côte D’Ivoire, who were both appointed intuit personae by President Félix Houphouët-Boigny before his death.

In the nomination letter, Minister Abela explained, how, “The John XXIII Peace Laboratory of Malta is a living, practical example of the role that a non-governmental, voluntary organisation can play in shaping the conscience and opinion of the general public. As the founder of the Peace Lab, Rev. Mintoff continues to seek the strengthening and consolidation of the values and ethos the Lab is built upon by promoting communication within the asylum-seeking community in Malta and their families abroad, disseminating information, promoting health and basic care services through the provision of open health clinics, and providing shelter and hospitality.”

Rev. Mintoff, through the John XXIII Peace Lab, established in 1971, has made a significant contribution in promoting, safeguarding and maintaining peace. The Peace Lab was set up following an appeal by Pope John XXIII calling for the world to reflect on peace in his 1963 Encyclical on establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty, Fr. Mintoff sought to give life to his dream of an open and unrestricted space where people of all backgrounds and attitudes could mix together.