Peacekeeper Award goes to Canadian Woman on International Women's Day 2012
Published on 08 March 2012
Canadian-born Tiffany Easthom is today named as "Civilian Peacekeeper of the Year" by the NGO, Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP).
Tiffany Easthom, who is currently serving as NP's Country Director for South Sudan, has also run field projects for NP in Sri Lanka and for Peace Brigades International (PBI) in Indonesia. In announcing the award, co-chair of NP's International Governing Council Simonetta Costanzo Pittaluga had this to say:
"It gives me great pleasure to announce this award on the occasion of International Women's Day and no one deserves it more than Tiffany Easthom, who has been doing an amazing job under exceptionally difficult circumstances in support of the people of South Sudan.
"All our civilian peacekeepers deserve a medal for their courage, dedication and commitment to the very important work they are doing. Our women peacekeepers in particular deserve more public recognition for leading the world into a new way of peacekeeping. In giving this award to Tiffany Easthom, we are paying special tribute to her selfless and indefatigable efforts to build a solid programme of protection activities in South Sudan that are making a real difference to the lives of so many people there.
From all of us in NP – from the governing board, from our member organisations around the world, from all the staff, supporters, volunteers and donors – thank you, Tiffany!"
Over the past year, Ms Easthom has overseen the growth of NP's country programme in South Sudan from one small field office in the town of Mundri to an 8-fold expansion of field offices across 5 states of South Sudan. With support from both UNICEF and UNHCR, the programme has reached out to children affected by armed conflict and to women affected by gender-based violence; to refugees and IDPs fleeing the renewed fighting in disputed areas between the north and south of Sudan as well as to children and others fleeing LRA-related violence in the border areas to the south and west.
"Thanks so much for this award," says Tiffany Easthom, "Every day I have the honour of working with incredibly committed and courageous people from all over the world, working together to help civilians affected by violent conflict. I accept this award on behalf of all of them."
Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) is an international NGO which uses 'unarmed civilian peacekeepers' to protect civilians and reduce violence in situations of armed conflict and its aftermath. NP has been in South Sudan since November 2009 and is also working in Mindanao in the Philippines, where it has official responsibility for Civilian Protection under the current ceasefire agreement between the government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. NP recently closed its first country programme after 9 years in Sri Lanka and is now in the process of establishing a regional programme in the South Caucasus.
For more information, please see www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org or contact Simon Meynsbrughen (Europe) on +32 2648 0076 or at [email protected]; or Tom Tarnow (USA) on +1 612 871 0005 or [email protected]