The former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and the first president of the European Parliament elected by universal suffrage, Simone Veil, won the "North-South" prize which has been given since 1995 by the Council of Europe to people working to protect human rights and develop relations between Northern and Southern Europe. The awards ceremony will take place in Lisbon on April 1st. The reason for the award is given by Claude Frey, president of the North-South Centre: "These two exceptional personalities will receive the award for their endless, brave work for human rights all over the world". "Their efforts to raise public awareness of the breach of human rights and help the victims of injustice are an inspiring example for social commitment and responsibility". Other reasons are that the Ghana-born Kofi Annan, the seventh UN secretary, "promoted cooperation between the United Nations and the whole world, trying to establish deep bonds with society, the private sector and other partners". The French Simone Veil is defined "one of the main political leaders and a human rights activist, who survived the concentration camps of the Nazi period".
