Betty Williams – Ireland 1976, Founding Member
"The Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded for what one has done, but hopefully what one will do." These are the words of Betty Williams, who in 1976 along with Mairead Maguire, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to end the sectarian violence in her native Northern Ireland.
Williams was one of the six founding members of the Nobel Women's Initiative in 2006. She currently heads the World Centers of Compassion for Children International, which was founded in 1997 in honour of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The organization is headquartered in the Republic of Ireland, and is building the first City of Compassion for children in the Basilicata Region of southern Italy. Williams left the Nobel Women's Initiative in 2011 in order to devote more time to her work there.
Quotes
The Nobel Peace Prize is not awarded for what one has done, but hopefully what one will do.
I had no concept of the depth of the children’s suffering until witnessing their pain. Yet in a world that we know can feed itself upwards of 40,000 children die every day from conditions of malnutrition. Surely we must question why we are allowing this carnage to continue.