Paulina Chavez
Press Secretary
[email protected]
The global NDI family is saddened by the passing of John Hume - politician, peacemaker, and fearless voice for civil rights and non-violence. We remember John for the indelible mark he left on peace in Northern Ireland, and democracy and human dignity around the world.
John’s life’s work demonstrated the power of democracy to bring citizens together for peace and progress. He was the only two-time recipient of NDI’s Democracy Award, becoming our first-ever Awardee in 1985. He received it again in 1998, along with all the signers of the Good Friday Agreement, for helping bring peace to Northern Ireland. John left NDI’s 1998 award ceremony to fly directly to Oslo to receive the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize.
John served as co-leader of NDI’s first international election observer mission — to the snap elections in the Philippines in 1986. NDI is honored to have worked with John and his Social Democracy and Labor Party as it transitioned from a civil rights movement to a political party. Throughout the decades, he tirelessly pressed his vision for a peaceful and democratic Northern Ireland from the halls of Congress to the Oval Office.
But most of all, we are proud to have called John Hume a friend and partner. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy of peace, and a staunch commitment to the rights and dignity of people everywhere that should continue to inspire us all in his memory.
