"We Did it Together,' Says Tunisian Co-Winner of 2015 Nobel Peace Prize | NPR

[Fred Sanders]

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/10/09/447110303/2015-nobel-peace-prize-goes-to-tunisian-quartet-of-mediators


"National Dialogue Quartet, a group that helped preserve Tunisia's dreams of democracy in 2013, has won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, with the Nobel Prize Committee citing its "decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia."

"We are here to give hope to young people in Tunisia, that if we believe in our country, we can succeed," said Ouided Bouchamaoui, president of The Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, a group that's part of the Quartet.

Talking by phone with a Nobel representative today, Bouchamaoui was asked if the group has a leader; she replied, "No, it's a collaboration. We did it together, the four of us.""



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"The Quartet, made up of the General Labor Union; the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts; the Tunisian Human Rights League; and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers, was formed in the summer of 2013 to act as mediator between the warring parties."

"The committee held Tunisia up as an example of a peaceful transition to democracy in a region mired in violence."

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A triump of diplomacy and what the Nobel Prize Committee Chair called a result of the force of "moral authority".

Official Press Release:

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2015

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is to be awarded to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011. The Quartet was formed in the summer of 2013 when the democratization process was in danger of collapsing as a result of political assassinations and widespread social unrest. It established an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war. It was thus instrumental in enabling Tunisia, in the space of a few years, to establish a constitutional system of government guaranteeing fundamental rights for the entire population, irrespective of gender, political conviction or religious belief.

The National Dialogue Quartet has comprised four key organizations in Tunisian civil society: the Tunisian General Labour Union (UGTT, Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail), the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts (UTICA, Union Tunisienne de l'Industrie, du Commerce et de l'Artisanat), the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH, La Ligue Tunisienne pour la Défense des Droits de l'Homme), and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers (Ordre National des Avocats de Tunisie). These organizations represent different sectors and values in Tunisian society: working life and welfare, principles of the rule of law and human rights. On this basis, the Quartet exercised its role as a mediator and driving force to advance peaceful democratic development in Tunisia with great moral authority. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is awarded to this Quartet, not to the four individual organizations as such.

More: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2015/press.html