The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize was awarded on June 27, 2017 at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, during a ceremony solemn. Several personalities were present at this ceremony, including President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire His excellency M. Alassane Ouattara, former Ivorian president and protector of the prize His excellency M. Henri Konan Bédié, former President of the Republic of Senegal and sponsor of the prize His excellency M. Abdou Diouf, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Secretary General of the International Organization of la Francophonie Ms Michaëlle Jean and UNESCO Director-General Ms Irina Bokova.
The winners for the 2017 edition of this award are the former Mayor of the Italian city of Lampedusa, Mrs Giuseppina Nicolini and the French non-governmental organization SOS Méditerranée for their efforts to save the lives of refugees and migrants and To welcome them with dignity. Each winner received a check for US $ 75,000, a gold medal and a peace certificate signed by the Director-General of UNESCO. The NGO SOS Méditerranée was represented at this ceremony by its two co-founders, Mr Klaus Vogel and Mrs Sophie Beau.
It should be remembered that the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize was created in 1989 in order to pay tribute to the living persons, institutions or public or private bodies in activity that have contributed significantly to the promotion, research, Safeguarding or maintaining peace, in compliance with the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO. The jury of this prestigious prize is chaired by former Mozambican president His excellency M. Joacquim Chissano.