UNHCR welcomes Nobel peace prize for UN, Annan

GENEVA - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees today hailed the decision of the Nobel Committee to bestow this year's Peace Nobel Prize on the United Nations and its Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"I am proud as a member of the UN family that the prize went to my Secretary-General and a fabulous man," said High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers.

Lubbers said he was particularly pleased since the world's most prestigious Nobel Prize went to a former UNHCR official, noting that Kofi Annan spent a large portion of his professional career in UNHCR.

"We all are proud that the 100th Nobel Peace Prize for the first time honours not only the Secretary-General but also the United Nations as a whole", said Lubbers.

Several UN agencies and a number of prominent UN officials have received the Nobel Peace Prize, including UNHCR, which won it twice, in 1954 and 1981. The United Nations Children's Fund and the UN Peace Keeping Forces have also been among the winners. The 1961 prize went to the UN's second Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold. However, it the first time that the prize has been bestowed on the United Nations as a whole.