Nobel Peace Prize 1982: Alva Myrdal

Here I am in Rome but yet still reflecting on the amazing time I spent in Sweden. It helped that it is raining and dreary cold outside, making the writing of this journal and work on the computer a bit more bearable, with a break to the neighborhood café for a late lunch. Plus, I know I will have to venture into the city (rain or shine) starting tomorrow (a meeting with International Rome Film Festival organizer Jacopo at his office in the Auditorium where all the events and activities are, a working lunch with staff of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights branch office here in Rome, meeting my visiting brother Sina from Michigan and at least one interview an Australian journalist in the late afternoon. (The screening is tomorrow night. I am very much looking forward to meeting Jacopo who called to express his welcome and to inform me of the various interview requests.)

For having only a population of 9 million, Sweden claims disproportionately acclaims for its impressive marks in international affairs and diplomacy (UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, Hans Corell, Ragnar Angeby, Raoul Wallenberg, etc.), international peace (Nobel founder Alfred, Alva Myrdal) and international business (Ericson, Ikea, Volvo etc.). I was nicely greeted by a very talkative taxi driver who with pride informed me of life in Sweden – it’s clean (and yes, it is!); it’s safe; it’s expensive but that’s the price for the high-quality social services of free excellent education, health and well-being. Stockholm is very beautiful and pristine, with all the old buildings standing in tact. Unlike London and other European cities, this Nordic country has not experienced the destruction since the mid-1800s.

Screening of Facing Genocide in Stockholm, here Theary with directors David Aronowitsch and Staffan Lindberg, producer Jenny Ornborn (now with Swedish Film Institute) and former chief of UN Office of Legal Affairs Hans Corell (20 Oct. 2010)

Folke Bernadotte Academy staff, 8 Resource Persons (including Theary Seng) and about 30 participants from around the world with expertise in reconciliation work memorializing their stay in Sando, Sweden (Oct. 2010).

Panel to discuss different reconciliation processes: Cambodia (Theary), Colombia (Hernando), Uganda (James), Kosovo (Omer) – FBA Course on Reconciliation (Sweden, 23 Oct5. 2010)

Rune Sjoberg (Swedish Foreign Ministry), Paramount Tribal Chief Alfred Banya of Sierre Leone, Italian Rosaria Puglisi (EU Senior Political Adviser in Georgia), Prof. Ervin Staub, South African Graeme Simpson (former director of International Center for Transitional Justice), naturalized Swedish James Pascal, and the awesome Luis-Alberto Cordero of Costa Rica. (Sando, Sweden, Oct. 2010).

Theary Seng with participants of the Folke Bernadotte Academy Course on Reconciliation: former Commissioner of Liberia Truth Commission Pearl Brown Bull (in purple African attire), Deputy Commissioner of Truth Commission in Kenya Tecla Wanjala (far right), Nokkuthula Tandinyama of Zimbabwe Peace and Security Trust (far left), and Tsira Kakubava of NGO Alert in Georgia (Sando, Sweden, Oct. 2010).

Even though I was asked to join the Folke Bernadotte Academy as a Resource Person for its pilot Course on Reconciliation, I learned as much if not more than the participants. First of all, I am deeply impressed by the visionary Ambassador Ragnar Angeby and his impressive staff headed by Therese Jonsson. Second, it was great to see again good friends from the Stellenbosch workshop in Dec. 2009 – Ervin Staub, John Caulker and James Latigo – as well as meet new friends, in particular the brilliant facilitator/consultant Graeme Simpson.

What is JUSTICE? Whatever else it may be, justice must include FAIRNESS, rule of law of societal norms and TRUTH. Truth is a pre-condition of justice. Truth involves who speaks and who gets heard. We delved into the difference of “amnesty” (before conviction) and “pardon” (has been convicted). We challenged the idea that “revealing is healing” by watching the film “Where the Truth Lies” about South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

We contextualized the JUSTICE conversation within the larger week-long discussion of RECONCILIATION and reparations, which was succinctly summarized for us by Graeme in the 6Rs of REPARATIONS:

• Recognition (including obligations of the State)
• Right to remedy, right to participate, to design, to citizenship
• Repair (sometimes symbolic)
• Reform
• Real and Realistic (must be tangible and practical)
• Reconciliation – which is a not a moment but a process, not a principle but a strategy.

Building trust exercise: Nigerian Dickson Orji of Nigerian National Commission on the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons supporting Colombian Hernando Caceres (who had lived and worked in Cambodia!) of National Commission on Reparations and Reconciliation in Bogota – as other participants looked on: Tsira Kakubava of Georgia, Sulaiman Sesay of Sierre Leone, Brikha Khadha of Nepal, and Therese Sjostrom of International IDEA (Sando, Sweden, 23 Oct. 2010).

Waiting for the plane to land in the thick fog in the middle of Sweden to take us 300 south to Stockholm (for many to catch the connecting flights to take us back home around the world: UNDP deputy country director for East Timor and Darwin, Australia Lebanese Alissa Chaker; Italian Rosaria Puglisi to her EU office in Georgia; Hernando to Colombia; Turkish Omer Dincsoy to his UN office in Kosovo; Brikha to Nepal, Swedish storyteller Lise to her writing retreat in London; Bolivian-German Hjalmar to Afghanistan, Dickson to Nigeria; and the Swedish friends to their various homes in southern Sweden. We passed away the time telling stories (28 Oct. 2010). MORE PHOTOS of Course on Reconciliation: http://www.thearyseng.com/conferences/64-conferences-2010/107-conferences--speaking-engagements-2010/226

One of the beautiful buildings on one of the 14 islands making up pristine, clean (!) Stockholm (29 Oct. 2010).

South African Fidi Bubenzer and Theary Seng enjoying the glorious Stockholm sunshine by seeing the beautiful Swedish capital on foot, here on the way to Vasa Museum (29 Oct. 2010). The evening before, Fidi and I had fun admiring all the beautiful Swedish people in the posh district of Riddargatan. Again, we couldn’t help but notice how expensive everything is, brought on by the sharp pain of paying an equivalent of US$8 for a glass of the local beer Carlsberg (because of the high taxes on alcohol!).

Theary at the Vasa Museum, in front of the ship, Vasa, that sunk almost 400 years ago, in 1628, on her maiden voyage in Stockholm harbor (ballast problem – top heavy). The wreck was salvaged in 1961 after 333 years under the sea. The reconstructed vessel, 95% original, is splendidly adorned with hundreds of carved sculptures (“Made in China!” yells out a Thai interpreter for a group of 30 Thai tourists). Japanese oak preserved due to fresh water, which would have rotted if in salt water). Impressive by the preservation and museum, a sentiment shared by the group of elementary school students whose curiosity and education of their history enhanced by the experience (Stockholm, 29 Oct. 2010).

Theary Seng in front of the Swedish Parliament, the Rigsdag, next to the Palace, on her walk to meetings in Old Town (Stockholm, 30 Oct. 2010).

Visiting The Living History Forum in the heart of the Old Town, here program manager Erika Aronowitsch and editor Charlotte; spoke briefly at a fortuitous meeting of a group of teachers-in-training (Stockholm, 29 Oct. 2010).

The visionary, prophetic peace-builder Ambassador Ragnar Angeby (director of Folke Bernadotte Academy, an agency of the Foreign Ministry) here standing in front of the Swedish Prime Minister’s official residence (left) and Ragnar’s former office of 20 years, the Swedish Foreign Ministry (far right). I could not have asked for better company sipping coffee in the Old Town discussing peace and co-existence and a better guide than Ragnar as we walked across the city back to my hotel (to catch dinner with the very cool director David and his friends and family) and Ragnar to the metro for his engagement. (Stockholm, 29 Oct. 2010).

Dinner with director David Aronowitsch, his brother and family, Jenny Ornborn and partner (Stockholm, 29 Oct. 2010).

Theary with Swedish-Cambodian Kimsong (since 1974) and his friend Patrick enjoying coffee at this traditional local restaurant hidden in the heart of Riddargatan neighborhood, a place I had been introduced to by directors David and Staffan upon arrival into Stockholm, Oct. 20. (Stockholm, 30 Oct. 2010)

 - Theary C. Seng, Rome, 1 Nov. 2010

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Biography of Alva Myrdal

Alva Myrdal was born in Uppsala in 1902, graduated from University in 1924, and married Gunnar Myrdal the same year. Together with her husband she made a major contribution in the 1930s to the work of promoting social welfare. They were joint authors of a book entitled "The Population Problem in Crisis", and she was also actively engaged in the discussion on housing and school problems. She was a prominent member of the Social Democrat Party in Sweden, and in 1943 was appointed to that party's committee with the task of drafting a post-war program. Also in that year she was appointed to the Government Commission on International Post-War Aid and Reconstruction.

After the second world war she devoted more and more of her time and energy to international questions. In 1949 - 1950 she headed UNO's section dealing with welfare policy, and in 1950 - 1955 she was chairman of UNESCO's social science section. In 1955 she was appointed Swedish ambassador to India, and in 1962 was nominated Sweden's representative to the Geneva disarmament conference. In that year she became a Member of Parliament and in 1967 a member of the Cabinet, entrusted with the special task of promoting disarmament. For a number of years she has represented her country in UNO's political committee, in which questions of disarmament have been dealt with.

During the negotiations in Geneva she played an extremely active role, emerging as the leader of the group of non-aligned nations which endeavored to bring pressure to bear on the two super powers to show greater concern for concrete disarmament measures. Her experiences from the years spent in Geneva found an outlet in her book "The Game of Disarmament", in which she expresses her disappointment at the reluctance of the USA and the USSR to disarm.

In her work for disarmament Alva Myrdal has combined profound commitment with great professional insight. With the support of experts she has familiarized herself with the scientific and technical aspects of the arms race. Her understanding of the need to base the work of disarmament on professional insight also found an outlet in her active participation in the establishment of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI. Through her many articles and books Alva Myrdal has exercised a very significant influence on the current disarmament debate.

From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 1982, Editor Wilhelm Odelberg, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 1983