18/12/2012 - The European Union, the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, announced today the details of the projects funded by the award money. Four humanitarian projects, reaching out to 23,000 children worldwide, were selected.
In Northern Iraq, Acted will provide protection and education to 4,000 Syrian children living in Domiz refugee camp after escaping the conflict in their country. In Colombia and Ecuador, UNHCR will improve access to education for 5,000 Colombian children affected by the violence in their country. In Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council will provide education and protection to 11,000 children displaced by fighting. In Pakistan, UNICEF will provide learning opportunities to 3,000 Pakistani children affected by the 8-year conflict in the north of the country.
Today, 90% of victims of conflicts are civilians. Half of them are children. The EU decided to dedicate the Nobel Peace Prize 2012 to children who are denied the chance of growing up in peace, doubling the prize money of around EUR 930 000 to make a total of EUR 2 million.
Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International cooperation, Humanitarian aid and Crisis response, explains: "By providing education to children caught in conflict, we can make a big difference: we can give them a chance for a childhood." As Jose-Manuael Barroso, president of the European Commission sums up: "We want "children of war" to become "children of peace".