First Mother Teresa Humanitarian Awards To Be Presented On Tuesday

NEW DELHI, FEB. 24, 2008, 16.15 Hrs (CBCI News):

The first Mother Teresa International Humanitarian Award will be presented to Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director, UNAIDS, and Ambassador Dr. Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, by Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, the immediate past President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, at a function to be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 in New Delhi.

The function will be jointly organized by UNAIDS and CBCI Health Commission.

The “Blessed Mother Teresa International Humanitarian award” instituted by the Health Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India is designed to recognize individuals who have demonstrated the same humanitarian concerns exemplified by Mother Teresa, said the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Fr Alex Vadakuntala..

Speaking about the award, Archbishop Bernard Moras, the Chairman of the CBCI Health Commission said, “Both Dr. Piot and Dr. Dybul are pioneers who continue to lead the global fight against the spread of HIV and are leaders who work with passion in making a difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS especially in developing countries. In this regard, they are leaders, who, like Mother Teresa, try to make a difference to humanity.”

Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS since its creation in 1995 and Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, comes from a distinguished academic and scientific career focusing on AIDS and women’s health in the developing world. Under his leadership, UNAIDS has become the chief advocate for worldwide action against AIDS. Drawing on his skills as a scientist, manager and activist, Dr Piot has challenged world leaders to view AIDS in the context of social and economic development as well as security.

Ambassador Mark R. Dybul serves as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator, leading the implementation of U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. From March to August 2006, he served as Acting U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, and prior to that he held the positions of Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Assistant U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator. He is also a former member of the World Health Organization's Writing Committee to develop global HIV therapy guidelines.

The award ceremony was initially planned as part of the first “Mother Teresa Memorial Annual Oration" by Dr. Abdul J. Kalam, the former president of India, to be held at 4.30 p.m. on March 3, 2008, at the Indira Gandhi National Open University. Owing to the inability of Dr. Peter Piot to be present in Delhi on March 3, Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo will present the Award at 2.30 p.m. on February 26, 2008 at a function specially organized for this at Aftab Mahtab Hall, Taj Mansingh, New Delhi.

Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata, was the Albanian-born founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity—a Catholic Congregation of women dedicated to the poor, particularly to the destitute of India. A recipient of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Peace, no one in the twentieth century has touched as many hearts as this simple nun.