Serageldin met today with the jury committee members of the Chirac Foundation to select a winner for the Chirac Foundation Prize for the Prevention of Conflicts.
The jury, presided by Jacques Chirac, Former President of France and President of the Fondation Chirac, is composed of personalities who have worked for peace and dialogue: Boutros Boutros Ghali, Former Secretary General of the United Nations; Michel Camdessus, Former Managing Director of The International Monetary Fund; Joaquim Alberto Chissano, Former President of Mozambique; Federico Mayor, Former Director General of UNESCO; Jorge Sampaio, Former President of Portugal; Simone Veil, Member of the Académie française; Vaira Vike Freiberga, Former President of the Republic of Latvia; Ismail Serageldin; and Honorary Member of the Jury : Rajendra K. Pachauri , 2007 Peace Nobel Price, President of the Intergovernmental Panel of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC).
In an award ceremony held at the Museum Quai Branly in Paris, attended by several diplomats, political and cultural personalities, the Chirac Foundation prize for Conflict Prevention was given to Mario Giro of the Community of Sant''Egidio for his work in favor of a preventive peace in many parts of the world, particularly in Africa and the Balkans. The Special Jury Prize went to Lakhdar Brahimi for his work in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghnistan.