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Jody Williams (born October 9, 1950) is an American political activist known for her work in banning anti-personnel landmines, her defense of human rights (especially those of
women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
), and her efforts to promote new understandings of security in today's world. She was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...
in 1997 for her work toward the banning and clearing of anti-personnel mines.


Education

Williams earned a Master in International Relations from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (a division of
Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
) in Washington, D.C. (1984), an MA in teaching Spanish and English as a second language from the School for International Training (SIT) in Brattleboro,
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
(1976), and a BA from the
University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...
(1972).


Advocacy

Williams served as the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) from early 1992 until February 1998. Before that work, she spent eleven years on various projects related to the wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador, where, according to the ''Encyclopedia of Human Rights'', she "spent the 1980s performing life-threatening human rights work." In an cooperative effort with governments, UN bodies and the
International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of rules of war and ...
, Williams served as a chief strategist and spokesperson for the ICBL, which she developed from two
non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s (NGOs) with a staff of one – herself – to an international powerhouse of 1,300 NGOs in ninety countries. From its small beginning and official launch in 1992, Williams and the ICBL achieved the campaign's goal of an international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines during a diplomatic conference held in Oslo in September 1997. The Ottawa Treaty that banned land-mines is credited to her and the ICBL. Three weeks later, she and the ICBL were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At that time, she became the tenth woman – and third American woman – in its almost hundred-year history to receive the Prize. In November 2004, after discussions with Iranian Peace Laureates Shirin Ebadi and Professor Wangari Maathai of Kenya, Williams established the Nobel Women's Initiative which was launched in January 2006. Williams has since served as its chair. This initiative brought together six of the female Peace Laureates, the women seek to use their influence to promote the work of women working for peace with justice and equality. (
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
is an honorary member.) In 2020, Williams called upon Chevron Corporation to pay cleanup costs to the residents of the Lago Agrio oil field which were awarded in 2011 and have been in litigation ever since. Williams is quoted as saying, "The image of peace with a dove flying over a rainbow and people holding hands singing kumbaya ends up infantilizing people who believe that sustainable peace is possible. If you think that singing and looking at a rainbow will suddenly make peace appear then you're not capable of meaningful thought, or understanding the difficulties of the world." In 2019, Williams called for a treaty to end violence against women, in support of Every Woman Coalition.


Academic career

Since 2007, Williams has been the Sam and Cele Keeper Professor in Peace and Social Justice in the Graduate College of Social Work at the
University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...
. Before that she had been a distinguished visiting professor of global justice at the college since 2003.


Recognition

Williams continues to be recognized for her contributions to human rights and global security. She is the recipient of fifteen honorary degrees. In 2004, in its first such listing, she was named by ''Forbes'' magazine as one of the 100 most powerful women in the world. She is one of the female Nobel Prize laureates to be recognized as a "Woman of the Year" by ''Glamour'' magazine – which has also honoured
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
, Katie Couric and Barbara Walters.


Publications

Williams' work includes articles for magazines and newspapers, for example the ''Wall Street Journal'', ''International Herald Tribune'', ''The Independent'' (UK), ''The Irish Times'', ''The Toronto Globe and Mail'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''La Jornada'' (Mexico), ''The Review of the International Red Cross'', Columbia University's ''Journal of Politics and Society''. She added several chapters to numerous books: * ''The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women'', edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman; * ''A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant, and A Prayer'' * ''Lessons from our Fathers'', by Keith McDermott * ''Girls Like Us: 40 Extraordinary Women Celebrate Girlhood in Story, Poetry and Song'', by Gina Misiroglu; * ''The Way We Will be 50 Years from Today: 60 of the World's Greatest Minds Share Their Visions of the Next Half-Century'' * Williams co-authored a seminal book on the landmine crisis in 1995, ''After the Guns Fall Silent: The Enduring Legacy of Landmines''. * Her book, released at the end of March 2008, ''Banning Landmines: Disarmament, Citizen Diplomacy and Human Security'', analyzes the Mine Ban Treaty and its impact on other human security- related work. * In March 2013, her memoir, ''My Name Is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl's Winding Path to the Nobel Peace Prize'', was released.


See also

*
List of female Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel#Nobel Prize, Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to Mankind." Additionally, the Nobel Mem ...
* List of peace activists * PeaceJam


References


External links


"An Individual's Impact on Social and Political Change"
interview by Riz Khan on
Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; , ) is a 24-hour English-language News broadcasting, news channel operating under Al Jazeera Media Network, which is funded by the government of Qatar. Al Jazeera introduced an English-language division in 2006. It is ...
, March 2011 (video, 25 mins). * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jody 1950 births Living people Mine action Nobel Peace Prize laureates American Nobel laureates American anti-war activists American human rights activists American women human rights activists University of Vermont alumni SIT Graduate Institute alumni Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni University of Houston faculty Women Nobel laureates People from Brattleboro, Vermont American nonviolence advocates