Voting to nominate Lula for the Nobel Peace Prize continues until the 31st.

247 - The international campaign to nominate former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for the Nobel Peace Prize continues to receive support and will run until January 31st. 

By 16 PM this Thursday, the 10th, more than 434 people had signed the petition from Argentinian Adolfo Perez Esquivel, winner of the 1980 Nobel Peace Prize, in support of former president Lula. The goal is 500 signatures. Click here to subscribe. 

"For those who recognize the fairness and validity of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, support must be provided by January 31st via the form available on the website of..." Norwegian Nobel Committee", says a text from the International Solidarity Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy in Brazil on the subject. 

Read the full text below:

The correlation between guaranteeing human rights to peoples, particularly health and food security, and the international construction of peace is evident. Efforts to combat hunger and extreme poverty are fundamental to building a more democratic and socially just world. Individuals, communities, and societies with real opportunities for inclusive development and access to basic conditions that ensure human dignity become resilient in facing the issues that generate, initiate, and perpetuate various conflicts. After all, just as hunger and war are self-reinforcing phenomena, guaranteeing food security is among the main instruments for achieving world peace.

Therefore, we support Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's candidacy for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Throughout Lula's government in Brazil (2003-2010), the fight against hunger, extreme poverty, and social inequality gained top priority through public policies crystallized in programs such as Zero Hunger and Bolsa Família. These programs were largely responsible for the drop in malnutrition rates in the country (from 11% in 2002 to less than 5% in 2007), and also for the reduction in extreme poverty, which, according to a report by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), fell by 50,6% during Lula's term. This enabled the country to achieve the historic feat of being removed from the United Nations Hunger Map in 2014.

However, the reach of the income transfer and hunger eradication policies adopted during Lula's government was not limited to the national level, but also served as inspiration for a series of regional programs around the globe. The Brazilian government, with the support of the UN Secretary-General and the presidents of Chile and France, brought together dozens of Heads of State in New York in 2004 to launch the "Zero Hunger International" initiative.

The effectiveness of Brazilian programs has been internationally recognized by prestigious institutions such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Social Security Association (ISSA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank. Former President Lula received recognition from various organizations and countries for his significant contributions to combating world hunger and promoting peace, through the following awards and honors: Knowledge for the Advancement of Social Justice from Brandeis University (USA); Inter-American Prize (Mexico City); Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development; Nelson Mandela Prize for Human Rights; UNESCO Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize; Jawaharlal Nehru Prize for International Understanding; World Food Prize (United States); Catalonia International Prize for combating poverty and inequality, in addition to dozens of honorary doctorates from renowned universities.

Lula's selection for the Nobel Peace Prize is justified by his recognized career and efforts against hunger and poverty, as well as by his government's foreign policy in defense of world peace through conflict mediation and other actions. Among these mediations, we can mention the tensions between Venezuela and Colombia, the internal conflict in Bolivia, and the Tehran Declaration, which aimed to establish an agreement to regulate Iran's nuclear program. Brazil was one of three developing countries invited to participate in the Annapolis Conference in 2007. The international cooperation policy developed during his government was also important in its humanitarian aspect, having made significant contributions to the World Food Programme.

The international movement for Lula's candidacy, led by 1980 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, is endorsed by prominent contemporary figures and has garnered over 400 signatures on the change.org platform.

The task now is to formalize Lula's candidacy, and the International Solidarity Committee in Defense of Lula and Democracy in Brazil invites you to join the movement. In addition to asking for your support, we encourage you to seek it from individuals and organizations that meet the following requirements:

Members of national assemblies and national governments (cabinet members or ministers) of sovereign states, as well as current heads of state;

Members of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague;

Members of the Institute of International Law;

University professors, emeritus professors, and associate professors of history, social sciences, law, philosophy, theology, and religion;

University rectors and university directors (or related positions);

Directors of peace research institutes and foreign policy institutes;

People who have received the Nobel Peace Prize;

Members of the senior board of directors of organizations that have received the Nobel Peace Prize;

Current members, former members, former advisors and former consultants of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

For those who recognize the fairness and validity of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's nomination for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, support must be submitted by January 31st via the form available on the Norwegian Nobel Committee's website: https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/Nomination/Nominator-application-form

We ask those who fill out the form, if they deem it appropriate, to inform the International Solidarity Committee that they have done so via email: lula.nobelprize@gmail.com so that we can monitor the progress of the campaign.