On 19 September, coinciding with the World Peace Day week of celebrations, ICIP presented the ICIP Peace in Progress Award 2024 to researcher, activist and analyst Vicenç Fisas i Armengol at a ceremony in the auditorium of the Parliament of Catalonia. Fisas has been honoured “for his extensive and continuous career in research and activism for peace and human rights, as well as the mediation and analysis of conflicts.”
Fisas holds a PhD in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford (United Kingdom) and is the author of more than 70 books on the culture of peace, conflict analysis and disarmament. Throughout his career he has excelled in activism in favor of peace and the defense of human rights, he has been a facilitator and analyst of violent conflicts and peace processes – for example, in Colombia, the Basque Country and the Philippines – and he has carried out numerous academic research projects.
ICIP president Xavier Masllorens opened the event, led by journalist Cèlia Cernadas. He emphasized that the ICIP Peace in Progress Award contributes “to valuing people and groups that strengthen the culture of peace, understood as the positive peace that is based on justice” and responds to ICIP’s will to work for “the strengthening of a critical and active public opinion, which will form an unstoppable and innovative emancipatory movement in a time of uncertainty.”
Journalist Cristina Gallach described the honoree as a “pioneer”. She highlighted his “tenacity and persistence in the work for peace” and his “generosity in transmitting values and blazing a trail for others to follow.”
Vicenç Fisas received the award amid a heartfelt ovation. He defended the need to “reactivate the peace movement, with the complicity of institutions,” to tackle the “enormous challenge” we face as a society in the context of the rise of conflicts, militarism, rearmament, the climate crisis or the migration crisis. “The strategies and blueprints of twenty years ago are no longer useful.” It is necessary to “rethink everything” and “mobilize people again” to create a “more dignified and decent society,” he said.
The event featured the institutional speeches of the Minister of the European Union and External Action, Jaume Duch, and the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull. Minister Duch thanked Vicenç Fisas for his work for peace and defended the work of “peacebuilders” at a “particularly tumultuous” moment, as well as the need to promote dialogue and the defence of human rights. The minister also referred to the Catalan Forum for Peace, a process that he defined as an “excellent opportunity to design a new Catalan plan for peace.”
Finally, at the closing of the event, the president of the Parliament, Josep Rull, advocated putting human dignity and respect for human rights at the forefront to “build a better world.” “Without human dignity, without humanity, and without fundamental rights, there is no future,” he said.
The ceremony’s opening and closing ceremonies featured musical performances by cellists Mariona Camats and Oriol Prat, who are associated with the Pau Casals Foundation.
Once again, the ICIP Award ceremony at the Parliament of Catalonia brought together many people, organizations, and institutions working in different fields to promote and disseminate the culture of peace.
The ICIP Award, a thirty-year trajectory
The ICIP Peace in Progress Award, established in 2011, aims to publicly recognize individuals, organizations, or institutions that have worked and contributed outstandingly and extensively to the promotion and construction of peace.
The award consists of public recognition, a sculpture created by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, artist and activist Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Porta de Sol, and an economic endowment of 6,000 euros. Throughout its twelve-year history, the ICIP Award has honoured individuals and groups from Catalonia, Bosnia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Mexico and Algeria for their struggle for reconciliation, truth, justice and equality while focusing on women’s empowerment and the gender perspective.
