The American Friends Service Committee has opened a call for suggested nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, and you are invited to submit your suggestions between now and May 1, 2013 for the 2014 prize (though please keep reading—suggestions in the ‘comments’ on this page will not make it to the committee).
AFSC and their British counterparts, Friends Service Council, now called Quaker Peace and Social Witness, accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947 on behalf of Quakers worldwide. As laureates, AFSC and QPSW have the opportunity to nominate, and I have the privilege of serving as the Clerk (Chair) of the 13-member international committee that makes that selection each year.
If you would like to suggest a candidate, we ask that you not just send a name, but do sufficient research to make a compelling case as to why they fit the AFSC criteria for nomination as well as the Nobel criteria. More information and a submission form can be found on the AFSC web site. We will prayerfully and carefully consider your suggested nomination.
AFSC’s nomination for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize is non-violence theorist Gene Sharp. He is also found among earlier nominations by the AFSC, having been put forward in 2009.
Please feel free to circulate this information widely. We welcome thoughtful input, though we encourage you to read the information on the AFSC web site thoroughly and consider it carefully when putting forward your nomination. Thank you for being interested in this work and for caring about the advancement of peace worldwide.
David LaMotte
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