HELEN PRIZE - A Prize in Praise for Woman Warriors.

The 1999 International Helen Prize Humanitarian Award Recipient Ambassador Renate Jakupca.

The HELEN PRIZE
In Praise of Warrior Woman

ARK in Berea: The Helen Prize is an international award celebrating the accomplishments of women from around the world who have made heroic but unrecognized contributions to their communities....largely unsung heroes, doing traditional as well as non-traditional jobs, in developing countries and industrialized nations. The Helen Prize respects and acknowledges the multitude of women who courageously contribute to making a difference in the world and improving life on this planet.

Ambassador Renate, co-founder of the The International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA), was honored as the recipient of The International Helen Prize Humanitarian Award on March 8th, 1999 at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Ambassador Renate was also officially recognized at this time by Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. The International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA), founded in 1987, is a force for socially responsible activity whose mission is 'ICEAlity', that is to "Assist in understanding of the relationship between Humans and their Environment through the Arts for a sustainable Culture of Peace". American Cultural Ambassadors David and Renate Jakupca founded ICEA to meet the compelling needs of ordinary citizens for access to current, balanced, understandable information about complex global issues. Over the years, ICEA has gained a reputation for excellence based upon a unique library of specialized, current information on global importance and a wide range of imaginative programming and collaborations with other organizations to meet the needs of a broad constituency. With affiliates across the globe, the ICEA supports research, information sharing and effective action promoting a sustainable global culture of Peace.

As a life long champion against social injustice and defender of basic rights Ambassador Renate garnered her share enemy’s. This became painfully apparent after HABITAT II. The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements HABITAT II was held in Istanbul, Turkey from June 3–14, 1996. Renate recycled the UN Conference and it was packed up in Istanbul, Turkey and sent safely to ICEA HQ’s in Cleveland, Ohio to be an official part Cleveland’s Bicentennial Celebration: Ironically entitled “the Spirit of Habitat II – What is a City but its People”, it was set up and opened for a private showing but never opened to the public because shysters and charlatans masquerading as legitimate business and civic leaders convinced the Cleveland Public Library to close it down immediately, hoping to bankrupt and close ICEA.  The  Cleveland International Community Council was formed to replace ICEA when that happened.  Fortunately, others in the community stepped forward and that did not happen.  The exhibition was taken apart and set up in various locations around the city and what could not be used was sent to ahead to South Africa, the exhibitions next destination. A detailed account can be found in the  ‘The Internecine Matrix’.

The 1999 Helen Prize conferred on Ambassador Renate acknowledges that treacherous attack on a United Nations Exhibition in Cleveland, Ohio. 

AMBASSADOR RENATE JAKUPCA
1999 HELEN PRIZE Recipient

About the International Helen Prize for Women Humanitarian Award: The Helen Prize, as it is known, is the vision of Dr. Akhtar Naraghi, Montreal poet and writer, who named the prize after Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, who has devoted years of her life to the cause of peace and passionately spends time and energy in raising the conscience of the world. She inspires all of us to make changes in our everyday lives, to know that every action we take is important. Dr. Helen Caldicott became world-renowned as a fiery antinuclear activist and head of Physicians for Nuclear Responsibility - mostly thanks to ”If you Love This Planet”, the Academy Award-winning documentary by the National Film Board of Canada. In 1985 her group won the Nobel Peace Prize, but by then she had been pushed aside and the award was accepted by an American and a Russian Doctor, both male. Two years later, Dr. Caldicott described what had happened at a women’s conference in Dublin, ending with the reminder: ”That’s my story. Each of you has a story, each of you has been denied something because you are a woman. Akhtar Naraghi heard Helen Caldicott. In 1987 Naraghi brought together a number of prominent activist women from all around the world and established the International Organization of the Helen Prize for Women. It took ten years of hard work to promote the prize around the globe, a prize named for Dr. Caldicott, to honor unknown Helens who, on center stage or in some obscure corner, have given of themselves to create, defend and enchange the beauty and value of life.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION by AMERICA'S CONGRESS
 From Congressman Dennis Kucinich

INVITATION TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE HELEN PRIZE: You are invited to become a member of The Helen Prize by sending a tax-deductible donation to the amount of your choice from 10 $ up (student 5$). This yearly membership donation affords you the privilege of nominating a woman for The Helen Prize as well as giving you a charitable tax deduction receipt. You are also invited to develop teams in your own community/country to discover unknown Helens and to raise money so that significant support may be given to honour women and their work. We hope you will SPREAD THE NEWS by distributing The Helen Prize pamphlets, The Helen Prize book with the nominations of all the women who have been awarded the Helen prize each year, and by other creative ways that acknowledge and encourage women in their contributions to their communities and the world.

INVITATION TO NOMINATE A WOMAN FOR THE HELEN PRIZE: Please send biographical information to what extent you know your nominee, in what capacity, for how long, and add any information you deem necessary to know about her , the humanitarian work she has carried out, the causes she believes in, her impact on her society, her merits, devotions, etc.

BOARD OF DIRECTIONS: President Arpe Hamalian Professor , Concordia University President of the Quebec Federation of University Professors Olga Huk-Papanstasiou, M.D. Orthopaedic Surgeon McGill University Kaarina Kailo, Ph.D. Professor, Chair of Women’s Studies and Multiculturalism University of Oulu Faculty of Education P.O.BOX 222 FIN-90014 University of Oulu Akhtar Naraghi, Ph.D. Writer Helen Prize Founding President Annette St-Onge President, Opportunity for Women Entrepreneurs OFFICERS Amira Elias Treasurer Dorothy Kozel Secretary Celine Leduc Media Liaison ADVISORY BOARD Pam Barrett, M.L.A. Edmonton Highlands, Canada Kamla Bhasin FFHC/AD program Officer FAO/UN, New Delhi, India Sylvia Kuimba Literacy and popular media specialist, Zimbabwe Sorosh Roshan, M.D., MPH New York University President, Intern. Health Network for Women and Children Jo Vallentine Western Australian Senator for Nuclear Disarmament International Organization of the Helen Prize for Women P.O.BOX 781 Place Du Parc, MONTREAL, QUEBEC H2W 2P3 CANADA Tel. (514) 931-1911 Fax: (514) 931-9536

http://www.TheICEA.com