United Nations

$100,000 Prize for Outstanding Contribution to Fight
Against Drug Abuse, Crime and Terrorism
 

VIENNA, 8 March (UN Information Service) — Faced with the world-wide spread of drug abuse, crime and terrorism — known as “problems without passports” — the United Nations has sought to mobilize global solutions and new partnerships with civil society.

Thus, the United Nations in Vienna, headquarters of its programmes addressing the “darker side of globalization”, is again calling for nominations of individuals and organizations that are doing outstanding work to build societies free from the evils of drugs and crime. Eligible candidates will be considered for the annual UN Vienna Civil Society Award, inaugurated last year  with the support of the Austrian Government and the City of Vienna.

Nominations for the award may be made by governments, international organizations, civil society groups or individuals. Candidates may not nominate themselves. Nomination forms are available from United Nations Information Centres and UN International Drug Control Programme field offices. The deadline for submission to the Selection Committee is 31 March 2000.

“The success of UN endeavours in the fields of drug abuse and crime prevention depends ultimately on the decisions people make about the way they live their lives,” says Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) and Director-General of the UN Office at Vienna. “We must therefore reach people, and the Civil Society Award focuses world attention on remarkable individuals and groups who have found successful ways to do so.”

Those selected will receive their awards — consisting of a medal, a certificate and a share of $100,000 in prize money — at a ceremony in Vienna later this year. Last year’s recipients were drug prevention organizations in Japan and Mexico and two individual activists from India and Uganda.