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The Unesco Peace Prize 2022 has been given to former German chancellor Angela Merkel in recognition of “her efforts to welcome migrants.” When refugees began pouring into Europe in the summer of 2015, Merkel opened her country’s borders and famously told the German people, “We can do this.” She eventually changed her mind about being pro-immigration when support declined from the general public and her conservative party. Every member was inspired by her generous decision in 2015 to admit over 12 lakh refugees, especially those from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Eritrea.
Key Takeaways
- The Unesco Peace Prize 2022 has been given to former German chancellor Angela Merkel in recognition of “her efforts to welcome migrants”
- She made a generous decision in 2015 was to admit over 12 lakh refugees, especially those from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Eritrea
- Angela Merkel is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
What is the UNESCO Peace Prize?
The UNESCO Peace Prize, formerly known as the Félix Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize, was established in 1989 by the United Nations Charter and the UNESCO Constitution. For making a major contribution to the “promotion, study, safeguarding, or preservation of peace,” the prize is given to an individual, an organisation, or a private or public body.
The late former president of Côte d’Ivoire, Félix Houphouet-Boigny, has been honoured with a prize bearing his name. A certificate for peace is given along with a gold medal, a check for $150,000, and the prize.
The 39th US President Jimmy Carter, the French President François Hollande, the Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and other notable figures are among those who have received the UNESCO Peace Prize.
About Angela Merkel
German politician and scientist Angela Dorothea Merkel was Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She was born on July 17, 1954. She previously held the positions of Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018.
She is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Merkel was Germany’s first female Chancellor. Merkel was regularly referred to as the most powerful woman in the world and the de facto Leader of the European Union (EU) during her time as Chancellor.
Angela Merkel Family History
When her father, a Lutheran minister, accepted a pastorate in Perleberg, she was only a few months old when she moved from her birthplace of Hamburg in what was then West Germany to East Germany. She earned her doctorate in quantum chemistry in 1986, and from that point until 1989, she worked as a research scientist.
After the Revolutions of 1989, Merkel entered politics and briefly worked as the deputy spokeswoman for Lothar de Maizière’s first democratically elected East German government. Merkel was chosen to represent the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in the Bundestag following the unification of Germany in 1990.
Merkel was appointed Minister for Women and Youth in 1991 as Helmut Kohl’s protege. In 1994, she was named Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. Following the CDU’s defeat in the 1998 federal election, Merkel was chosen as the party’s general secretary. Two years later, following the resignation of Wolfgang Schäuble due to a donations scandal, she was named the party’s first female Leader and the first female Leader of the Opposition.
UNESCO Peace Prize 2022
For her “efforts to welcome refugees,” former German Chancellor Angela Merkel received the UNESCO Peace Prize. Merkel received the 2022 Félix Houphout-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize, according to the website of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), for her “courageous decision by 2015 to welcome more than 1.2 million refugees, particularly from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Eritrea,”
After serving as German Chancellor for 16 years, Merkel announced her resignation in 2021.
2015 saw a migration crisis in Europe as people fleeing war and turmoil made their way to the continent as refugees and asylum seekers. Following the Syrian Civil War and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, civilian migrants sought shelter in European nations, sparking the migrant crisis.
At the height of the crisis, Angela Merkel, then the Chancellor of Germany, invited approximately 1.2 million refugees to settle there. Merkel said that Germany will now assess asylum requests from Syrian refugees who had entered the country via other EU nations, broadening the country’s policies on welcoming refugees.
She also offered the German people a new motto, “Wirschaffen das,” which translates to “We can do this,” and she helped build public support for welcoming more immigrants into the nation. Later, once public support for refugees began to wane, several members of her conservative party questioned the choice to open the door to immigrants.
