Four NZ women in collective nomination for Nobel prize

Four New Zealand women are part of a 1000-strong collective nominated for the century old, male dominated Nobel Peace Prize.

Each of the 1000 women, nominated from across the world, have worked for justice and peace in their respective homelands.

Announcing the New Zealand nominees yesterday, Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias said each celebrated the importance of collectives and community rather than just individual effort.

Former MP Marilyn Waring was nominated for her work in governance and human rights, while Patsy Henderson Watt was recognised for her work on violence in the family and community, Pauline Tangiora for efforts with indigenous rights and cultural understanding and Marion Hancock in peace education.

Dame Sian read a message from Ms Hancock, who is in France, to convey the universality of the nominations which are part of a Unesco backed one-off campaign project "1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005".

"All are simply representative of the thousands of women who do incredible and (at times) tedious work around the world."

Nominations were made by members of the public and peace and women's networks.

One other purpose of the nomination, the first of its kind, was to attempt to redress a gender imbalance in the peace prize, which since its inception has honoured 80 men, 20 organisations and only 12 women.

A member of the group that helped organise the nomination within the Pacific region, Nicci Simmonds, said past awards had tended to politically recognise those who use force over those who work painstakingly but quietly at grassroots level to address violence and injustice.

"The project and its nomination seek to address this ... by increasing the visibility of, and support for women working for justice around the world."

Three meetings were held with the director of the Nobel Institute in Oslo to discuss the project's objectives and the importance of the nomination's collective nature.

The Nobel committee will announce its decision in October.

- nzpa