2015 FAIRNESS AWARD HONOREE RECEIVES NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

2015 FAIRNESS AWARD HONOREE RECEIVES NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Created: Friday, 09 October 2015 15:01

For Immediate Release: October 9, 2015

Contact: Caleb Shreve

Global Fairness Initiative

+1 202-898-9022

Washington, DC – The Board, staff and international partners of the Global Fairness Initiative (GFI) extend our deepest congratulations to, and solidarity with Houcine Abassi, Secretary General of the Union Générale Tunisienne du Travail (UGTT), and the other members of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet, for their remarkable leadership and rightful receipt of the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize.

“I commend the Nobel Committee for their thoughtful selection of the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet to receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize,” said Danilo Türk, Chairman of the GFI Board of Directors. “I have had the opportunity to know Mr. Abassi through our work in Tunisia, and I greatly admire his leadership in helping transition his country to a more equitable, democratic nation and for his steadfast support of the working men and women of Tunisia.”

In April Mr. Abassi was selected by GFI to be the 2015 Recipient of the Global Fairness Initiative’s Fairness Award, an honor given annually to international leaders whose lives and leadership have helped create a more equitable, sustainable world for the working poor. Mr. Abassi will be presented with the Fairness Award at a ceremony in Washington, DC on November 2nd along with fellow award recipients Myrtle Witbooi, General Secretary of the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union, and Paul Brest, former President of the Hewlett Foundation and Professor Emeritus at Stanford Law School.

“The Fairness Award has been our opportunity to recognize leaders who have created more equitable opportunity for the unrepresented poor and who have shown us what is possible when you put the greater aspirations of people first,” said Karen Tramontano, Founder of the Global Fairness Initiative. “We look forward to celebrating Mr. Abassi and all of our amazing honorees on November 2nd, it is always a night to remember.”

The Global Fairness Initiative is a not- for-profit international organization that promotes a more equitable, sustainable approach to economic development, ensuring that benefits and prosperity are extended to all people, including the working poor. GFI has been working in Tunisia since 2013 to advance the rights and economic opportunities for the nation's majority informal sector workers through partnership with local organizations such as UGTT and the Tunisian Association for Management and Social Stability (TAMSS). GFI’s Fairness Award was first presented in 2009 by Secretary Hillary Clinton to Ms. Ela Bhatt of SEWA, and has since be received at an annual ceremony by leaders such as Presidents Tarja Halonen and Joyce Banda, grassroots leaders Albina Ruiz and Zeinab Al-Momani, and a notable list of others. The 2015 Fairness Award ceremony will be held on November 2 at the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC. Learn more at www.fairnessaward.org.

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