KEY POINTS:
A Wellington man has been granted an annual peace award to carry out research into the abolition of nuclear war in Costa Rica and the United States.
Quaker Peace and Service granted the Loxley Award to Alyn Ware to provide funding for his research.
Mr Ware was the director of Peace Foundation Wellington office and had worked on key disarmament initiatives with the government of Costa Rica and at the United Nations.
Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948 and was now leading initiatives at the United Nations for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the reallocation of military expenses towards poverty alleviation, universal education, primary healthcare and environmental protection.
Mr Ware said a deeper knowledge of the Costa Rican initiatives would assist in proposing realistic approaches New Zealand could take.
The initiatives would require support in order to succeed, he said.
"As a well-respected member of the United Nations, New Zealand could play a very important role in building support from around the world and in implementing elements of the proposals at national and regional levels."
He also planned to use the funding to go to Washington to investigate the traction Costa Rica's initiatives could have with the new United States Government.
Mia Tay, of Quaker Peace and Service, said Mr Ware was granted to award because the service believed New Zealand could learn from the positive example of Costa Rica in order to play a leading role in global nuclear disarmament and the abolition of war.
The Loxley Award, established in 2008, was a bequest by Nelson man Ken Loxley to support New Zealanders to undertake study or a project which promotes understanding of peace, justice and environmental issues.
- NZPA
