"The award symbolizes the heroic and often untold stories of women who are leading the ways to peace in countries affected by war and age-old conflict."
- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan

NEW YORK, NY– Contemporary art and the struggle for peace have always gone hand in hand. Now the United Nations has commissioned a work by U.S. sculptor Tim Holmes to commemorate the efforts of women around the world to bring peace to war-torn countries.

The purpose of the award, officially called the Uited Nations Millennium Peace Prize for Women, according to UNIFEM executive director Noeleen Heyzer, is “to identify the unsung heroines who have risked social standing, and in some cases their lives, to initiate peaceful resolutions to long-standing bloodshed.”

The prize, Heyzer said, is inspired by hundreds of stories about the often unrecognized and valiant efforts that women are making to bring peace to war-affected countries. Women in Somalia, South Africa, Liberia, Guatemala, Colombia, Kosovo, Cambodia and many other countries have set inspiring examples of building peace across clans, political affiliations and ethnicity.

Sculptor Holmes was chosen for the commission because of his lifelong commitment to peace organizations, and his worldwide renown for creating art works to be given as awards to peace makers. Holmes, who lives and works in Helena, Montana, has exhibited in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, in St. John’s Cathedral in New York, and in a number of museums and galleries across the U.S. Because his sculpture so often unites the spirit of artistic expression with the work of peacemakers and spiritual leaders, Holmes has attracted a number of devoted collectors including museums and institutions, as well as a community of private art lovers.

The U.N. Peace Prize for Women to date has been given to:

Flora Brovina, Kosovo. Brovina, a pediatrician, began a clinic for refugees of the war, was arrested by the Serbian military in 1999, tried for committing "acts of terrorism" and was imprisoned until recently released by international pressure.

Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani, Pakistan. These two sisters began the first all-women's law firm in Pakistan in 1981 to stand up for human rights, bringing them death threats in thanks, including from the chair of their local version of the Chamber of Commerce.

Veneranda Nzambazamariya, Rwanda, awarded posthumously. Nzambazamariya was the president of Pro-femmes Tweaw Hamwe, a collective of women's organizations that worked to promote human rights and heal Rwanda after the massacres.

Women in Black, a worldwide network of anonymous women and groups of women who oppose violence with organized actions and silent vigils. WIB use anonymity as an act of solidarity ion a world where often labeling is the first act of oppression. WIB of Belgrade accepts the prize on behalf of the movement.

The Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres Movement, Columbia, serves as an important national referee in the ongoing conflict in Columbia.

Leitana Nehan Women's Developement Agency, Papau New Guinea, formed after conflict broke out in 1989, to help rebuild eroded trust within affected communities. The sculpture was commissioned by UNIFEM, a U.N.-sponsored program to support and enhance human rights for women on all continents of the globe. The purpose of the Millennium Peace Prize, according to UNIFEM executive director Noeleen Heyzer, is „to identify the unsung heroines who have risked social standing, and in some cases their lives, to initiate peaceful resolutions to long-standing bloodshed.

See the sculpture