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Bios Prize Award Ceremony in honour of UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Ruud Lubbers click here for programme (pdf) Athens,
11 March 2003 National Bank of Greece, New Administration Building As
a tribute to peace and the environment, the Biopolitics International
Organisation (B.I.O.) awards Bios Prizes to visionary leaders
whose contributions make this world a better place for the future.
Following awards to Jacques Cousteau in Paris in 1996, and to Mstislav
Rostropovich at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg in 1999, B.I.O. honoured
UN High Commissioner for Refugees and f. Premier of The Netherlands,
Ruud Lubbers, with the Bios Prize during a special ceremony in
Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, March 11, 2003. The
event was held under the auspices of the Greek Deputy Minister
of the Environment, Rodoula Zissi, and the Dutch Ambassador,
Paul Brouwer, with the participation of diplomats, business leaders,
scholars, artists and other eminent personalities from around the
world. Speakers included the B.I.O. President, Dr. Agni
Vlavianos-Arvanitis, the Ambassador of the Netherlands, Paul
Brouwer, the UNHCR Representative in Athens, Robert White,
the Honorary Chairman of Silver and Baryte Ores Mining Co, Kitty
Kyriacopoulos, the Deputy Secretary General of the Permanent Court
of Arbitration, Bette Shifman, and the Chairman of Sofam Beheer
BV, Fred Matser. The ceremony concluded with a musical programme
featuring pianist Dimitris Papatheodorou and world famous mezzo-soprano
Christa Pfeiler. High
Commissioner Lubbers served as Prime Minister of The Netherlands
continuously from 1982 to 1994, the longest-serving post-war premier.
After leaving politics he taught university courses on globalisation
and sustainable development at Tilburg University in the Netherlands
and as a visiting professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Government
at Harvard University in the United States. He was also vice-chairman
of the Independent World Commission on the Oceans and chair of Globus,
the Institute for Globalisation and Development based in Tilburg.
His last post, before becoming High Commissioner in January 2001,
was Head of the World Wide Fund for Nature. A steward of the environment,
Ruud Lubbers has given special consideration to environmental protection
in the work of the UNHCR.
Honorary Committee
Agni Vlavianos-Arvanitis, President and Founder, Biopolitics International
Organisation |
