A Discussion with Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams
Williams, who grew up in Brattleboro, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for founding and leading the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, an unprecedented cooperative effort that brought governments, United Nations bodies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and more than 1000 NGOs in 90 countries together to pass the Ottawa (Mine Ban)Treaty. A staunch defender of human rights globally, Williams studies modern warfare to promote new understanding about security today. She recently penned a chapter on “Nukes, Land Mines, and Killer Robots” in A World Free From Nuclear Weapons, a book released this summer to commemorate 75 years since the U.S. atomic bombing of Japan and boost Pope Francis’ global efforts to ban nuclear arms as part of a new framework for international peace. Williams helped establish the Nobel Women’s Initiative in 2006 to use the visibility and prestige of the Nobel prize to spotlight, amplify and promote the work of grassroots women’s organizations and movements around the world