Kobia salutes Nobel Peace Prize winner Oct. 13, 2004 By Ecumenical News International GENEVA - The Rev. Samuel Kobia, chief executive of the World Council of Churches, has paid tribute to Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner for 2004. "Being the first African woman in history to receive this prestigious prize, you have brought honor to the African continent and its people," said Kobia, a Methodist from Kenya. In January, he became the first African to lead the world church organization. Maathai, Kenya’s deputy environment minister, was named the winner of the peace prize for her work as leader of the Green Belt Movement, which has sought to empower women, improve the environment and fight corruption in Africa for almost 30 years. "We believe that Maathai is a strong voice speaking for the best forces in Africa to promote peace and good living conditions on that continent," the Nobel committee said in its citation. "Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Maathai was Nairobi University’s first woman professor before she left full-time academic life to found the Green Belt Movement, a women’s environmental movement campaigning against the clearing of forests for charcoal and property development. She played a significant role in Kenya’s transition to a multi-party political system in the early 1990s, and she was a keynote speaker in 1979 at a major World Council of Churches’ conference in Boston on "Faith, Science and the Future." "Having gained much from your insights, we have always treasured this association," Kobia said in his message to Maathai. "Your campaign against deforestation across Africa is a unique contribution not only to save African forests, but also African lives." News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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