Niwano Peace Prize

The Niwano Peace Prize is given to honor and encourage those devoting themselves to interreligious co-operation in the cause of peace and to make their achievements known. Its foundation hopes that the prize will further promote interreligious co-operation for peace and lead to the emergence of more people devoting themselves to this cause.

The award is given annually and consists of a certificate, a gold medal, and 20 million yen (roughly US$180,000). The screening committee, which decides the recipients, is made up of religious leaders of international stature. They select the recipient from candidates who are nominated by religious leaders and others of intellectual stature around the world.

The Tokyo-based Niwano Peace Foundation was initiated by the Japanese citizen Nikkyō Niwano, founder of the Buddhist lay organization Risshō Kōsei Kai; he was one of the few non-Christian observers of the Second Vatican Council. His son, Nichiko Niwano, is his successor as chairman of the movement, which is dedicated to interreligious dialogue.

Laureates

 * 1983: Dom Hélder Câmara, Brazil
 * 1984: Homer A. Jack, USA
 * 1985: Zhao Puchu, China
 * 1986: Philip A. Potter, Dominica
 * 1987: World Muslim Congress, Pakistan
 * 1988: not awarded
 * 1989: Etai Yamada, Japan
 * 1990: Norman Cousins, USA
 * 1991: Dr. Hildegard Goss-Mayr, Austria
 * 1992: A. T. Ariyaratne, Sri Lanka
 * 1993: Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, Israel
 * 1994: Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil
 * 1995: M. Aram, India
 * 1996: Marii Hasegawa, USA
 * 1997: Corrymeela Community, Northern Ireland
 * 1998: Maha Ghosananda, Cambodia
 * 1999: Community of Sant'Egidio, Italy
 * 2000: Dr. Kang Won Yong, Korea
 * 2001: Elias Chacour, bishop of the Melkite-Catholic Church in Israel
 * 2002: Samuel Ruiz García, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico
 * 2003: Dr. Scilla Elworthy, UK
 * 2004: Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI), Uganda
 * 2005: Dr. Hans Küng, Switzerland
 * 2006: Rabbis for Human Rights, Israël
 * 2007: Master Cheng Yen, founder of Tzu-Chi, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu-Chi Foundation, Taiwan
 * 2008: Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Jordan
 * 2009: Reverend Canon Gideon Byamugisha, Uganda
 * 2010: Ela Bhatt, India
 * 2011: Sulak Sivaraksa, Thailand
 * 2012: Rosalina Tuyuc, Guatemala
 * 2013: Gunnar Stålsett, Norway
 * 2014: Dena Merriam, USA
 * 2015: Esther Ibanga, Nigeria
 * 2016: Center for Peace Building and Reconciliation (CPBR), Sri Lanka
 * 2017: Munib Younan, Palestine
 * 2018: Adyan Foundation, Lebanon
 * 2019: John Paul Lederach, USA
 * 2020: Ven. Pomnyun Sunim, South Korea
 * 2021: Venerable Shih Chao-hwei, Taiwan
 * 2022: Michael Lapsley, South Africa
 * 2023: Rajagopal P. V., India