Aletta Jacobs Prize 2014 for UN Under-Secretary-General Noeleen Heyzer
The Aletta Jacobs Prize 2014 has been awarded to Noeleen Heyzer, Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She has been awarded the prize in recognition of her efforts to improve the treatment of women, particularly in Asia. The prize will be presented by the Rector Magnificus of the University of Groningen, Elmer Sterken. This is the first time that the Aletta Jacobs Prize has been awarded to someone who is not Dutch.
According to jury chair Prof. Janka Stoker, Heyzer is a shining example of a modern-day Aletta: ‘After completing her PhD on equal rights and opportunities for women at Cambridge, she ventured into the world to fight for the same themes on rubber plantations and in a cotton factory. Heyzer has thus not only championed the improvement of the position of women academically, but also in practice, particularly in developing countries.’
Noeleen Heyzer
Noeleen Heyzer (Singapore) gained a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts at the University of Singapore and a PhD in the social sciences from Cambridge University (UK). She has always been very interested in emancipation in the widest sense of the word. As director of the Gender Programme of the Asian and Pacific Development Center, she played a key role in the drawing up of development policy and programmes from a gender perspective and advised various Asian governments on this issue.
As head of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the UN organization that aims for equal rights for men and women and to give women a voice, she was particularly involved in the promotion of female leadership in conflict situations, with putting an end to violence against women and with fighting HIV/AIDS from a gender perspective.
Heyzer is currently an Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). She was appointed to the latter position in July 2007 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. On 10 June 2013 he appointed her as his special advisor for Timor-Leste.
Aletta Jacobs Prize
The University of Groningen awards the Aletta Jacobs Prize once every two years to a woman with an academic degree who has promoted emancipation nationally and/or internationally. The prize was established in 1990 by Prof. Erik Bleumink, a former president of the Board of the University. Previous winners of the prize include Neelie Kroes and Hedy d’Ancona.Last modified: | 26 February 2021 3.25 p.m. |
More news
-
06 May 2024
Impact: 'URinControl', treatment of urine loss through app
One of the three researchers nominated for the Ben Feringa Impact Award 2024 is general practicioner and researcher-epidemiologist Anne Loohuis. Loohuis conducted research on the treatment of urine loss through the self-help app URinControl'.
-
02 May 2024
Johan Remkes te gast in podcast Leiderschap in Onzekere Tijden Live
Oud-minister en oud-informateur Johan Remkes is op 15 mei te gast in de Podcast Leiderschap In Onzekere Tijden. In de liveopname van de podcastaflevering gaat hij met FEB-hoogleraren Janka Stoker en Harry Garretsen in gesprek over de huidige...
-
01 May 2024
Behavioral Scientist Carsten de Dreu Appointed as Professor at the University of Groningen
The University of Groningen is pleased to announce the appointment of renowned social and behavioral scientist Carsten de Dreu as research professor at the UG.