THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
FOUR FREEDOMS AWARDS
2008
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS WITH THE 2008
FOUR FREEDOMS AWARDS LAUREATES
From left to right: Jan Egeland, Ambassador William J. vanden Heuvel,
Queen’s Commissioner in the Province of Zeeland Karla M.H. Peijs,
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenende,
Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, Queen Beatrix
of the Netherlands, Richard von Weizsäcker, Karen Armstrong, Lakhdar
Brahimi, Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., Willemijn Verloop,
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.
(Photo: Lex de Meester)
THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
FOUR FREEDOMS AWARDS
2008
Roosevelt Study Center
Middelburg 2009
ROOSEVELT STUDY CENTER
PUBLICATIONS No. 23
This publication is sponsored by
CIP-GEGEVENS KONINKLIJKE BIBLIOTHEEK, DEN HAAG
Franklin
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms Awards 2008 [William J.
vanden Heuvel ... et al.; ed.: Cornelis A. van Minnen].- Middelburg :
Roosevelt Study Center. - Ill. - (Roosevelt Study Center Publications; no. 23)
ISSN 1386-9108
ISBN 978-90-71654-22-0
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
b y Cornelis A. van Minnen
7
WELCOMING REMARKS
b y Karla M.H. Peijs
9
RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF THE FRANKLIN AND
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE
by Anna Eleanor Roosevelt
11
THE FOUR FREEDOMS SPEECH
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
13
“DIALOGUE, NOT DESTRUCTION, IS OUR PURPOSE”
b y William J. vanden Heuvel
15
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT FREEDOM
OF SPEECH MEDAL TO LAKHDAR BRAHIMI
17
LAKHDAR BRAHIMI’S SPEECH IN ACCEPTANCE
OF THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH MEDAL
19
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT FREEDOM
OF WORSHIP MEDAL TO KAREN ARMSTRONG
23
KAREN ARMSTRONG’S SPEECH IN ACCEPTANCE
OF THE FREEDOM OF WORSHIP MEDAL
25
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT FREEDOM
FROM WANT MEDAL TO JAN EGELAND
27
JAN EGELAND’S SPEECH IN ACCEPTANCE
OF THE FREEDOM FROM WANT MEDAL
29
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT FREEDOM
FROM FEAR MEDAL TO WAR CHILD NETHERLANDS
31
5
WILLEMIJN VERLOOP’S SPEECH ON BEHALF OF
WAR CHILD NETHERLANDS IN ACCEPTANCE
OF THE FREEDOM FROM FEAR MEDAL
33
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT FOUR
FREEDOMS MEDAL TO RICHARD VON WEIZSÄCKER
37
RICHARD VON WEIZSÄCKER’S SPEECH IN ACCEPTANCE
OF THE FOUR FREEDOMS MEDAL
39
REMARKS ON BEHALF OF THE ROOSEVELT FAMILY
BY TRACY ROOSEVELT, GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER
OF FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
41
THE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT FOUR FREEDOMS
AWARDS LAUREATES 1982-2008
43
A WORD ABOUT THE FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR
ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE AND THE ROOSEVELT STICHTING
46
A WORD ABOUT THE ROOSEVELT STUDY CENTER
47
6
FOREWORD
by Cornelis A. van Minnen
Director of the Roosevelt Study Center
n May 24, 2008, the Nieuwe Kerk in Middelburg was filled to
capacity with hundreds of guests from all over the world assembled to attend the presentation of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four
Freedoms Awards. Among the distinguished guests were Her Majesty the
Queen and Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands. The
2008 laureates whose commitment to FDR’s Four Freedoms was honored
were: Lakhdar Brahimi from Algeria who received the Freedom of Speech
Medal; Karen Armstrong from England who was awarded the Freedom of
Worship Medal; Jan Egeland from Norway received the Freedom from Want
Medal; Founder and Director of War Child Netherlands Willemijn Verloop
was awarded the Freedom from Fear Medal; and finally the Four Freedoms
Medal was presented to former President of Germany Richard von
Weizsäcker.
In his acceptance speech Lakhdar Brahimi emphasized that the concept
of freedom of speech seems obvious to understand and easy to reach consensus on. Yet, despite global communication technologies there is still a
need to learn that what might be a legitimate expression of one’s ideas
somewhere in the world can be deeply offensive elsewhere. Karen
Armstrong observed that the ideal of religious freedom has become especially challenging in recent years since faith has been implicated in some of
the most tragic atrocities of our time. The great challenge today, she said,
is to build a global community where people of all persuasions can live
together in peace. In Jan Egeland’s view, never before has there been a
generation with the resources, the technology and the knowledge necessary to realize the freedom from want. For us it is a question of will, he said.
Willemijn Verloop offered the hopeful message that peace can grow where
fear is replaced with courage and hope. And Richard von Weizsäcker reminded us of our collective responsibility for the future of the planet, and that
we are citizens of one world.
FDR’s Four Freedoms are, therefore, a constant and necessary reminder
to us all. The achievements of the 2008 laureates serve as a source of inspiration to help contribute to the better world that President Franklin
D. Roosevelt envisioned. I would hope that this publication of the
speeches delivered at the impressive ceremony in Middelburg’s Abbey
helps to spread the message of the laureates and serves as a renewed challenge to rededicate ourselves to FDR’s ideals.
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WELCOMING REMARKS
by Karla M.H. Peijs
Queen’s Commissioner in the Province of Zeeland
n my capacity as chair of the Roosevelt Stichting, but also as Queen’s
Commissioner in the Province of Zeeland, it is my great honor as well
as a great pleasure to welcome you all in this Abbey church to celebrate the vitality of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms.
Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, we deeply appreciate your willingness to share this ceremony with us. It reminds us of the special bond
between your family and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1982 the
Roosevelt Four Freedoms Awards were presented for the first time in this
Abbey. The first international laureate was Her Royal Highness Princess
Juliana who attended these ceremonies for many years.
I want to welcome especially today’s laureates, President Richard von
Weizsäcker, Lhakdar Brahimi, Karen Armstrong, Jan Egeland, and
Willemijn Verloop on behalf of War Child Netherlands.
The laureates we honor today and those who preceded them in the years
since 1982 remind us of our common responsibility to join them in that
fight for a better world, so that in time Franklin Roosevelt’s vision of the
Four Freedoms may come closer to reality—everywhere in the world.
I want to commend the role played by Ambassador William vanden
Heuvel. For more than twenty-five years he played a key role in establishing the Four Freedoms Awards. He also served as founding father and loyal
supporter of the Roosevelt Study Center. Last night we honored
Ambassador vanden Heuvel by presenting him the first copy of a CD which
is dedicated to him. This CD “Waitin’ On Roosevelt” by the Zeeland music
band Champagne Charlie features twenty-one songs on Roosevelt’s
America. During this ceremony the CD’s title song will be performed.
When President Roosevelt delivered his State of the Union Address on
January 6, 1941, he included a section with his vision of a postwar world.
He sincerely believed that the Four Freedoms he considered essential to
humanity—Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want,
and Freedom from Fear—could and should be realized, everywhere in the
world. After his death in 1945 the Four Freedoms were included in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the General
Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948. Thus, this year we
celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of that very important document. We are
all in debt to Franklin Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, who played
such a crucial role as chair of the UN’s human rights committee to get this
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Declaration adopted as the key document for human rights in our world. No
wonder she was called First Lady of the World.
For more than a quarter of a century this inspirational ceremony has
been held alternately in Middelburg and in Hyde Park, New York. We are
very proud in Zeeland to be able to host this distinguished event which
brings us laureates and guests from all over the world. Defending these Four
Freedoms is more urgent than ever. Not only in parts of the world that are
far away, but also in our own countries, in our own neighborhoods.
Especially freedom of speech and expression and freedom of worship—
each apart but also closely linked—are nowadays subject of discussion in
our region.
It is important that the Four Freedoms serve as a moral basis in today’s
troubled world. Now and in the future they need to be the focal point of our
attention.
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RESPONSE ON BEHALF OF
THE FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
INSTITUTE
by Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, Co-Chair
n behalf of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, it gives
me great pleasure to offer our warmest greetings to Your Majesty
and your family; and to thank Her Royal Highness Princess
Máxima, for the honor of her presence here today. We also extend our
thanks to the Queen’s Commissioner, Karla Peijs, the Roosevelt Stichting,
and the people of Zeeland for their gracious and generous hospitality. Once
again, you have opened your hearts to the memory of a Dutch family who
left Zeeland more than three centuries ago to take up a new life in the new
world. We are here today, though, not so much to celebrate the continuing
physical connection between those early Dutch settlers and their homeland, but rather to celebrate the shared values that took root in three of the
descendents of that family—my family—through the work of Theodore,
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
The Four Freedoms articulate those values—a belief in tolerance, free
expression, and compassion for one’s fellow human beings. I am proud, of
course, of the role my grandparents played in distilling these ideas, but as
we look forward to the quadricentennial of the first Dutch settlements in the
new world, we would do well to remember that much of what my grandparents stood for came from their Dutch heritage. The good people of Holland
brought these concepts with them to the new world, and on behalf of all the
Americans with us today let me express our thanks for this legacy of tolerance that has done so much to shape our collective history.
I also want to express our pleasure at the continuing progress of the
Roosevelt Study Center. Now in its twenty-second year, the RSC remains
one of the most significant places in Europe for the study of American history and culture. In addition to the international conferences that regularly
take place at the RSC, the Center has launched a major book project: the
publication in 2009 of a 1,000-page survey of four centuries of DutchAmerican relations. More than ninety scholars from the Netherlands and
the United States are contributing essays to this volume on a variety of
aspects of Dutch-American relations from 1609 to the present. The book
will be published in English and presented in conjunction with the four
hundredth anniversary celebrations in Amsterdam and New York in
September 2009.
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This major research project is yet another sign of the significant place the
RSC has in Dutch-American relations.
It has been twenty-six years since Ambassador William vanden Heuvel
joined with you to establish the special link between the Roosevelt
Institute and the people of Zeeland. Thank you again, our Dutch friends, for
all of your kindness and hospitality, and for doing so much to advance the
Four Freedoms—everywhere in the world.
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PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT’S
“FOUR FREEDOMS SPEECH”
OF JANUARY 6, 1941
o the Congress of the United States:
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to
a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is
freedom of speech and expression, everywhere in the world. The second is
freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, everywhere in the
world. The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms,
means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peace time life for its inhabitants, everywhere in the world. The fourth
is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion
that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor, anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind
of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is
the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators
seek to create with the crash of a bomb. To that new order we oppose the
greater conception, the moral order. A good society is able to face schemes
of world domination and foreign revolutions alike without fear.
Since the beginning of our American history we have been engaged in
change, in a perpetual peaceful revolution, a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions, without the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek
is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of
its millions of free men and women; and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere.
Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them.
Our strength is in our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be
no end save victory.
T
13
DIALOGUE, NOT DESTRUCTION, IS OUR PURPOSE
by William J. vanden Heuvel
Chair-Emeritus of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
Freedom of Speech and Expression
Freedom of Worship
Freedom from Want
Freedom from Fear
or ourselves, for our nations, for our world. Those are the reasons
why we fought the most terrible war in human history—to secure
those freedoms for our children and generations to come, to make
possible for them the well-ordered society that only democracy can assure,
a community established by the consent of the governed, where the rule of
law prevails, where freedom means respect for each other, and where fairness and decency and tolerance are the cherished values, where government
protects the powerless while encouraging everyone to nourish the spirit
and substance of their talents.
Winston Churchill described Franklin Roosevelt as the greatest man he
had ever known. President Roosevelt’s life, Churchill said, “must be regarded as one of the commanding events in human destiny.” Franklin
Roosevelt was the voice of the people of the United States during the most
difficult crises of the twentieth century. He led America out of the despair of
the Great Depression. He led us to victory in the Great War. Four times he
was elected president of the United States. He was a man of incomparable
personal courage. At the age of thirty-nine, he was stricken with infantile
paralysis. He would never walk or stand again unassisted. We sense the pain
of his struggle—learning to move again, to rely upon the physical support
of others—never giving into despair, to self-pity, to discouragement. Just
twelve years after he was stricken, he was elected president of a country
itself paralyzed by the most fearful economic depression of its history. He
lifted America from its knees and led us to our fateful rendezvous with destiny.
Franklin Roosevelt transformed our government into an active instrument of social justice. He made America the arsenal of democracy. He was
commander-in-chief of the greatest military force ever assembled. He crafted the victorious alliance that won the most terrible war in human history.
He was the father of the nuclear age. The United Nations, the commitment
to collective security, the determination to end colonialism, the opportu-
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nity of peace and prosperity for all people—that was the blueprint for the
world he intended for us.
The founding of the United Nations was a singular act of political creativity, the most successful in Mankind’s long quest to establish a forum for
the universal dialogue so essential to peace. In founding the United
Nations, President Roosevelt was determined to use America’s great
strength to make peace possible—a practical peace based not on a sudden
revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions—like the United Nations, like the European Union. In the dialogue for
peace, all of us must re-examine our attitudes. We must not see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side, remembering that history teaches us that hatred and hostility between nations need not last forever.
President Roosevelt spoke for a country and a world that had had
enough of war and hate and oppression. He asked all nations to do their part
to create a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We
are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. To achieve it our
purpose must be dialogue, not destruction.
Together we must say again and again, with the strength of our nations
and the voice of peoples everywhere, that the Four Freedoms and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights are the basis of a world attainable
in our own time and generation. Today we again congratulate the citizens of
Europe who carry forward the momentous work of their Union. The
European Union is the most significant political success since World War
II. Europeans, do not falter or lose faith in your history. The historical definition of the century we live in will depend in important measure on your
success.
It is not worldly power and grandeur that cause us to remember Franklin
Roosevelt on this day. It is the cause of human freedom and social justice to
which he gave so much of his life. It is with that memory that we gather to
honor distinguished citizens of the world whose lives and achievements
have sustained our hope that our cherished freedoms will endure.
It is our privilege and honor to bestow the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Four Freedoms Medals.
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AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
FREEDOM OF SPEECH MEDAL TO
LAKHDAR BRAHIMI
F
reedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.” With
these words, Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood that open dialogue among citizens, and among nations, was a sure method of resolving conflict among nations.
On this twenty-fourth day of May 2008, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Medal for Freedom of Speech and Expression is awarded to Lakhdar
Brahimi, an extraordinary advocate for dialogue among nations, whose
lifetime has been devoted to encouraging political freedom, opposing
militarism and searching for peaceful solutions to the world’s conflicts.
You were born in Algeria. Your student years were cut short by the war
for independence in your native land. You joined in the struggle, serving as
representative of the National Liberation Front in Indonesia. Following
independence, you served your country as ambassador to Egypt, the Sudan,
the Arab League, and the United Kingdom. Your participation in Algeria’s
war of independence gave you empathy with people rising against injustice, and insight into the ways that power can corrupt.
You used this wisdom to great effect in 1989, when as special envoy of
the Arab League you negotiated an end to the chronic devastation of
Lebanon’s seventeen-year-old civil war. You understood that the seeds of
resolving conflict lie within the participants, not with an outside negotiator. Your legendary patience and ability to see a conflict through different
lenses has enabled you to identify the common space between adversaries
and help them to enlarge it.
After serving as foreign minister of Algeria, you moved to the United
Nations as a special advisor on conflict resolution, heading missions to
Haiti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Yemen, Liberia, Nigeria, and
Sudan. You played a critical role in the ending of Apartheid in South Africa,
providing vital support during the groundbreaking election of 1994 that
brought Nelson Mandela to the presidency.
Following the tragic failure of UN peacekeeping in Srebrenica and
Rwanda, you chaired the UN Millennium Report that bears your name which
The Freedom of Speech Medal was presented to Lakhdar Brahimi by William J. vanden
Heuvel, Chair-Emeritus of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and Arjan P.
Hamburger, Ambassador at Large for Human Rights.
17
redefined peacekeeping obligations and opportunities in the years ahead.
Your recommendations were the most important challenge to the member
states of the United Nations as the new century began. They remain at the
core of the effort to make peacekeeping as effective as it is essential.
After the invasion of Afghanistan following the events of September
11, 2001, you returned to that country at the UN’s request. You were the
instrumental force in enabling a democratic government in Afghanistan to
be formed. You oversaw the UN’s efforts to rebuild a broken land while nurturing human rights and political liberties. Your efforts culminated in the
completion of the Afghan constitution in 2004, giving hope for freedom
and the rule of law. Your wisdom and experience showed the way but too
often, whether in Afghanistan or Iraq, you were heard but not listened to.
As the Iraqi crisis developed, the United Nations was pushed aside. You
had a special role because once again your integrity was the beacon to
which fair-minded people rallied to seek a solution which would contain the
violence. If the violence is to end in Iraq—and it must—your voice as the
most respected Arab statesman in the world will be a guide to those who are
now prisoners of the historical complexity of the Middle East.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood that the age of colonialism was
over, that a new world was possible in which the United Nations could be a
powerful instrument in achieving peace and social justice. President
Roosevelt would have recognized you as the champion of the international
dialogue to achieve those goals. In his name and spirit we bestow upon you
this day the medal of the Four Freedoms.
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LAKHDAR BRAHIMI’S SPEECH
IN ACCEPTANCE OF
THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH MEDAL
I
am deeply grateful to the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and
the Roosevelt Stichting for this award. It is a great honor indeed. I feel
proud and humbled to receive this Freedom of Speech Medal and to be
in the company of the very distinguished personalities who have received
the award this and in previous years.
My own memory of President Franklin Roosevelt goes back to when I
was a child growing up in a very remote part of Algeria during World War II.
There was no television in those days and in our small, farming hamlet,
there was not even a radio. Yet, grown ups were discussing the war and
seemed, somehow, to have news of what was happening in such far away
places as France, Italy, Germany, Russia and Japan.
When President Roosevelt made his Four Freedoms Speech I had just
turned seven and I do not remember being aware of that speech—let alone
of its importance. But I definitely remember hearing of the president’s untimely death in 1945, so soon before the victory for which he had done so
much. Even in our isolated, small community, we knew that America was a
major player in the momentous events of those turbulent years, and that its
leader was a giant of man. What we particularly liked about him was that he
had gone to neighboring Morocco and expressed sympathy with the aspirations to freedom and independence of colonized people everywhere. None
of our farmers could read or speak French. At times, they would ask me to
translate articles in a newspaper which one of them had brought back from
a visit to the weekly market village a few kilometers away. My own French
was very limited and I am not sure how much I understood of what I read. But
I remember very well that one of the stories I was given to read concerned
President Roosevelt and a project he had been working on to make sure
there were no more wars.
The way I remember summing up the story was that Franklin Roosevelt
had decided that in the future, if any country went to war, then all others
would come together to fight the aggressor. That is how we understood what
the United Nations was going to be and do. Much has happened since then!
Algeria became independent after a long, bitter and costly struggle, and the
United Nations expanded way beyond its fifty or so founding members.
Little did I know that I would embrace a career that would bring me so close
to the United Nations.
Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms Speech is undoubtedly as relevant and
19
inspiring in our day as it was when it was delivered in 1941. Today, as then,
human beings and societies still seek to obtain or solidify what Franklin
Roosevelt called the “four essential human freedoms.”
And in this sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, I would like to pay tribute to the great human rights advocate,
Eleanor Roosevelt. Just a few years after the Four Freedoms Speech,
Eleanor Roosevelt, along with the other members of the Drafting
Committee of the Universal Declaration, enshrined those ideas in the preamble of the Declaration when they wrote: “a world in which human beings
shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has
been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people….”
By then I had moved to a boarding school in Algiers where naturally
newspapers and magazines as well as newsreel in cinemas were more readily available than in the small place I had come from. The movement for
self-determination was gaining ground by the day—in our country as well
as elsewhere in Africa and in Asia. In our school, everything connected to
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights would capture our interest.
There again, little did I know that years later, I would participate regularly
in celebrations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where the
names of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt would be recognized with respect,
admiration and gratitude, whether the celebration was taking place in New
York, Haiti, South Africa, Indonesia or Afghanistan.
Freedom of speech and expression seems obvious to understand and
easy to reach consensus on. Yet, the International Community has not been
able to guarantee respect for this basic freedom worldwide. With the advent
of the marvels of instant global communications, we still need to learn
how the new tools can support expansion of freedom of speech and expression so that what might be a legitimate expression of one’s ideas somewhere in the world is not deeply offensive elsewhere. The famous, or infamous,
Danish cartoons stand witness to how difficult it still is to reconcile the
equally essential standards of tolerance and responsibility with the exercise of such a fundamental right as the freedom of speech and expression. The
Netherlands was much closer to a balanced approach when a member of its
own parliament produced a film on Islam. His right to freedom of expression was rigorously respected. But the Dutch government as well as most of
the public in the Netherlands expressed strong disapproval of the extremist
views of the film and the manner in which they were presented. As a result,
the film had a very short life on the internet circuit. Also as a result of this
responsible attitude in the Netherlands, public reaction in the Muslim
world was correspondingly more restrained and tolerant than in earlier circumstances.
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When is restraining the right of speech and of expression a commendable act of responsibility and when is it a condemnable instance of censorship? What is the role of governments and media in upholding this right?
Recently, the media in New York brought to the attention of the public that
in the United States, the Department of Defense recruited retired generals to
pose as independent TV commentators. The U.S. government and important, well established television networks conspired to abuse the public
trust.
It is clear that there is still much to do to ensure that the right of freedom of speech and expression is exercised in a responsible manner. These
are all issues we must never fail to raise, constantly, if we are to make sure
our respect for freedom of expression is consistent with the spirit of tolerance embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Four
Freedoms enumerated by Franklin Roosevelt were and remain today, intrinsically linked to one another.
If freedom of speech generates hatred and arouses fear, it is counterproductive. If there are increased economic discrepancies between peoples, and
consequently, additional want, freedom of speech will not mean much for
many. And if freedom of speech leads to the exclusion of those who do not
share your religious or political beliefs, human rights and social peace will
be threatened. One can hardly see how genuine freedom of expression can
truly be achieved anywhere in the world without freedom from fear, from
want and of belief.
Let me quote from the Four Freedoms speech again: “Freedom means the
supremacy of human rights everywhere.” Now, as in 1941, “our support
goes to those who struggle to gain those rights or keep them.” It is imperative that we all continue to speak, without fear, putting to good use our
freedom of speech to impress upon those who hold the strings of power the
values that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt represent—commitment and
purpose to make the world a better place.
Again, thank you very much for this great honor.
21
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
FREEDOM OF WORSHIP MEDAL TO
KAREN ARMSTRONG
T
he freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—
everywhere in the world.” With these words, President Roosevelt
described the second essential element of human freedom, the freedom of the individual to seek knowledge and understanding of God in a spirit of religious tolerance and harmony.
On this twenty-fourth day of May, 2008, the Franklin Delano
Roosevelt Medal for Freedom of Worship is awarded to Karen Armstrong
whose extraordinary journey of mind and spirit has caused her to be a significant voice of understanding in a time of turbulence, confrontation, and
violence among the religions of the world.
Born into a family with Irish-Catholic roots, you sought to give your
life to God by entering a convent. You were just seventeen. The convent
sponsored you as a student at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Challenged by
the freedom of university life, you elected to leave the convent, determined
to define yourself and your faith outside of the structured responsibilities of
the church. You continued your studies, fascinated by mankind’s history in
seeking the truth of religion and caught up in its endless quest.
For fifteen years you wandered in the wilderness, exhausted by physical
illness and your own internal religious struggle. You began writing about
that struggle after epilepsy forced you to give up your teaching career. Your
first book, Through the Narrow Gate, described your convent experience
unleashing both your singular talent for writing and your passion to find
answers in the context of faith. You traveled for the first time to Jerusalem
while working on a documentary of St. Paul. Your first encounter with
Judaism and Islam left you with profound impressions that reflected the
common threads that bound the three great faiths of Abraham. You began a
quest for the knowledge to understand what these and other great religions
share, seeking to find true spirituality in the transcendent God beyond
them.
Your religious scholarship impressed an international audience as you
delved deeply into the mysteries of the great spiritual forces that have
The Freedom of Worship Medal was presented to Karen Armstrong by Anna Eleanor
Roosevelt, granddaughter of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Co-Chair of the Franklin
and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.
23
moved the world, Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, Buddhism and
Judaism. You wrote about Jesus, Muhammad, and Buddha, on fundamentalism in religions, on Islam, on the history of God. Your writing about
Jerusalem illuminated the Holy City in ways that brought new understanding of its history and meaning.
Ignorance and intolerance are the enemies of truth and faith. At the cost
of animosity and envy, you have continued to do battle against them,
always seeking to bring humanity together in shared values, common purpose, and a forgiving understanding of human frailty. Your message is one
of hope: if we can identify the unifying principles that link the great religions of humanity, perhaps we can break the cycle of violence and intolerance to which we are so vulnerable, and in the course of that journey we can
find faith, love and purpose.
Your writings—over twenty books in twenty-five years—have met
with praise and with controversy; they have never failed to guide, to provoke, to inspire your audiences. You have taught us to appreciate and understand the sacredness of the beliefs of others, and in the process, to move
away from the universal sins of hatred and greed. In a time of violence and
terror, you have reaffirmed the ideal that peace can be found in faith and that
the grace of God is reflected in human compassion. Freedom of worship as
President Roosevelt meant it has found in you a true messenger of civilization, and it is that disciple of the search for truth whom we honor this day
and in his name.
24
KAREN ARMSTRONG’S SPEECH
IN ACCEPTANCE OF
THE FREEDOM OF WORSHIP MEDAL
t is an immense honor to receive the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Freedom of Worship Medal, and I want to thank you from the bottom
of my heart. It is a humbling experience and of course I feel a great
sense of unworthiness. But what a wonderful event this award ceremony is!
Every year it makes us aware of freedoms that we often take for granted and
reminds us that liberty is not simply a privilege but a responsibility—
never more so than now, in our perilously divided world.
The ideal of religious freedom has become especially challenging in
recent years, since faith has been implicated in some of the most tragic
atrocities of our time. Some have concluded that religion is incompatible
with modernity and atavistically opposed to the freedoms that we cherish.
In fact, the chief cause of the terrorism that threatens the stability of the
entire world is political rather than religious, but it is true that, if infected
by oppression, despair or contempt, religion can become lethal.
The faith traditions are not static. Like biological species, they evolve
in response to their immediate environment. In hostile conditions, religious people can become chronically defensive in their struggle to survive;
instead of evolving their traditions creatively, they can cling fearfully to
past certainties. When violence and warfare become endemic in a region,
religion is likely to get sucked into the conflict and become part of the problem.
The modernity that gave us the freedoms we celebrate today has also
been spectacularly violent, because our technology has enabled us to kill
each other with greater efficiency than ever before. This aggression is not
only revealed in warfare but has even invaded a harmless activity like football. The discourse of our democratic societies—in parliamentary debates,
the media, academia and the law courts—is essentially confrontational and
agonistic: instead of simply seeking the truth, we also want to defeat our
opponents. It is not surprising that, when people feel threatened, religious
rhetoric has also become belligerent, offensive and dismissive of rival
viewpoints.
Religions are not inherently disposed to violence and intolerance.
Every single one of the major world traditions, including Judaism,
Christianity and Islam, has developed its own version of the Golden Rule—
“Do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you” —and made
compassion the litmus test of true spirituality. They have also insisted that
I
25
you cannot confine your benevolence to your own group but must have
what the Chinese call jian ai, “concern for everybody.” The religious have
not always lived up to these high ideals, of course, but at its most authentic, faith should be a force for reconciliation and respect.
But this will not happen in an antagonistic environment. The religious
are not the only people who have become dogmatic and chauvinist in these
difficult times. Every single one of the “fundamentalist” movements that I
have studied in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is rooted in a deep fear of
annihilation, convinced that modern secular society wants to wipe them
out. In almost every case, this militant piety originally developed in response to an aggressive secularist or liberal assault. Sometimes this was
military or political; sometimes merely the result of a disdainful media
campaign. And history shows that every subsequent attack—military, political or cultural—simply made these fundamentalisms more extreme, because it confirmed their suspicion that the secular world was indeed out to
destroy them.
Our major challenge today is to build a global community, where people of all persuasions can live together in peace. If we do not manage this,
we are unlikely to have a viable world to hand on to the next generation.
Any ideology, therefore, be it religious or secular, that breeds discord and
contempt or which distorts and denigrates the sacred traditions of another
in order to defend its own will fail the test of our time.
Again, I thank you all not only for the great honor you have done me
personally, but above all for your championing of these four great freedoms that, whatever our beliefs, are not just rights but inviolable duties.
Freedom of worship demands that everybody, religious or secular, treats the
other, whoever he or she may be, with the absolute respect that Abraham
showed to the three potentially hostile strangers who encroached upon his
settlement near Hebron. He bowed before them as if they were gods, welcomed them into his home, and, in this empathic act, he transcended his preconceptions and had an intimation of the sacredness that he called “God.”
26
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
FREEDOM FROM WANT MEDAL TO
JAN EGELAND
F
reedom from want.” With these words, Franklin Delano Roosevelt
challenged the international community to liberate people everywhere from hunger, poverty and disease, thereby making possible a
world where peace and social justice can be achieved.
On this twenty-fourth day of May, 2008, the Franklin Delano
Roosevelt Medal for Freedom from Want is awarded to Jan Egeland, a
powerful, effective, eloquent advocate for humanity’s most vulnerable,
those displaced by war, terror, political oppression or natural disaster. His
dynamic leadership and personal dedication have brought help to the afflicted and hope to the abandoned, and have won him universal acclaim as a leader who profoundly shapes our world.
The anguish of humanity’s suffering has been the focus of your life
beginning with your youthful involvement with Amnesty International
and its commitment to prisoners of political persecution. Your responsibility as secretary general of the Norwegian Red Cross prepared you to deal
with the consequences of natural disasters. Then, as Norway’s deputy
foreign minister, you helped bring about the Oslo Accord, a Declaration of
Principles accepted by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in
1993 which represented a dramatic and consequential breakthrough in the
stalemate of war between those adversaries. Murder and assassination prevented its ultimate implementation but you and your colleagues had shown
that perseverance, dialogue and common sense could illuminate a path to
peace. It was an achievement of the highest rank.
Peacemaking became your mission as you directed the talks leading to
a ceasefire in the civil war in Guatemala. Your diplomatic skills and the bold
success you had already achieved in complex situations gave momentum to
the effort to ban landmines. The Ottawa Treaty adopted in Oslo gave hope
to the innocent victims of unending conflict that their lives could be protected.
In 2003, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan entrusted you with the Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. You used this international
The Freedom from Want Medal was presented to Jan Egeland by Agnes van Ardenne,
Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
27
platform to bring the world’s attention to the humanitarian crises in Darfur,
Uganda and Congo, crises which you have called “the worst form of terrorism in the world.” Tirelessly shuttling between situations of despair and
disaster, you saw the endless suffering of voiceless millions and spoke in
their name to the conscience of the world. You understood that the wealthy
nations of the world had a special responsibility and you reached out for the
support of their governments and their citizens. The earthquake and tsunamis in 2004 which killed hundreds of thousands and devastated large areas
of Asia caused you to speak boldly and directly to this great need—and your
leadership brought an unprecedented response from nations rich and poor.
Only a person of your stature and experience could speak as you did in
the most recent Lebanon war, denouncing Hezbollah for endangering civilian populations while expressing dismay at the disproportionate response of Israeli military might. Once again, the civilian victims of war looked
to you, and once again you rallied the international community to relieve
their suffering.
In the villages of Uganda, your name is spoken with reverence for your
work in organizing a permanent ceasefire between the government and the
Lord’s Resistance Army, a conflict you described as “one of the cruellest
wars of our time and age.” You represented a spirit of reconciliation, not
retribution and because of your efforts children have been returned to their
parents and the terror surrounding their villages has ended.
For the moment, you have returned to Norway with major governmental responsibilities but your stage will always be the world. With your
country’s generous history behind you, we know the brutality of war, the
despair of its victims, the ravages of natural disaster are clarion calls which
implore your leadership. You have understood what President Roosevelt
meant in committing us to freedom from want. The world is a better and
more hopeful place because of you.
28
JAN EGELAND’S SPEECH
IN ACCEPTANCE OF
THE FREEDOM FROM WANT MEDAL
M
y warmest thanks for this undeserved honor. The freedom from
want was indeed one of the revolutionary concepts launched by
President Roosevelt, long before the UN Covenant on Social
and Economic Rights.
During my years as the global emergency relief coordinator I saw, first
hand, how effective multilateral action with local and regional partners
often helped build this freedom from want. I could witness social progress
even in such hopelessly war torn societies as Liberia and Sierra Leone,
Eastern Congo and Burundi, Angola and South Sudan, Northern Uganda,
Kosovo and Nepal. We also coordinated through the United Nations massive, life saving international relief in the Indian Ocean tsunami, the South
Asian earthquake, the Horn of Africa, Southern Africa, the Lebanon war and
the Darfur crisis. In most of these overwhelming emergencies hundreds of
thousands of lives were predicted to perish. These sombre predictions were
averted because multilateral action, building on local capacities, is today
infinitely more effective than in 1941 when President Roosevelt spoke to
the U.S. Congress.
But we still fail, too often, and even in 2008, as a collective humanity.
We fail when multilateral action lacks the unity of purpose among nations.
We fail, tragically and repeatedly, when the United Nations and regional
organizations are not provided with the political will and the minimum of
economic and security resources needed from their member states. The endless ongoing suffering in Darfur, in Iraq, among Palestinians, among
cyclone victims in Burma and among the growing numbers of climate
change victims in southern nations is a product of either senseless bickering or passive neglect among those leading nations that could have unlocked the situation.
I did, naively, it now appears, believe back in 2003 and early 2004 that
the growing and forgotten Darfur crisis would get better when we managed
to bring it to the attention of world leaders. This was, after all no Tsunami,
no earthquake and no natural disaster. The violence, the ethnic cleansing,
was man-made. Today, there are four times as many victims in this conflict
which we have not managed to end.
A similar paralysis of collective multilateral action is costing lives in
a very different area: There would not have been the relentless increase in
natural disasters produced by extreme weather if this global generation had
29
managed to unite around curbing greenhouse gas emissions and thereby
preventing climate change as member states generally agreed in Rio de
Janeiro as early as 1992. Seven times more livelihoods are in our time and
age devastated by natural disasters as by war and strife.
The world is currently seeing the biggest and best network of like-minded inter-governmental, governmental and non-governmental organizations ever as channel of future investments in the freedom from want.
Humanitarian agencies can feed, vaccinate and provide primary school for
children for a couple of dollars a day even in the remotest crisis areas.
Thereby the investment is, dollar by dollar, more cost-effective than
anything I know in the private and public sector anywhere. These nongovernmental and UN organizations can also speak up and out more systematically for neglected peoples and communities than before. The several
hundred humanitarian and human rights organizations can and will be
mobilized to hold leaders around the world accountable for the bad things
they do and for the good things they refrain from doing locally, regionally
and internationally.
In the future we must think more strategically, and more locally, in the
way we undertake our long term efforts to make societies resilient to
hazards and strife. We must work more closely with local governments and
civil society to strengthen their capacity for handling crisis and exercising
good governance. We must find better ways to forge coordination and partnerships internationally, nationally and locally. Thus we will be able to
tap local resources and local expertise better. Time and again we see, as in
recent weeks in Burma, that more lives are saved in earthquakes, floods and
tsunamis by local groups than by any expensive airborne fire brigade.
Similarly, it is usually local and regional actors who are make or break for
peace building efforts and reconciliation.
Never before has there been a generation with the resources, the technology and the knowledge necessary to realize the freedom from want. For
us it is a question of will.
30
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
FREEDOM FROM FEAR MEDAL TO
WAR CHILD NETHERLANDS
F
reedom from fear.” With these words, President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt imagined a world beyond the war which was about to
engage our nations. He dared to dream of a society in which all individuals could live in peace and justice, free from the fear of political tyranny and violence.
On this twenty-fourth day of May 2008, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Medal for Freedom from Fear is awarded to War Child Netherlands, a part of
War Child International, dedicated to helping thousands of war’s youngest
victims, children who have been brutalized by the violence of war, others
who have been forced into armies and paramilitary organizations, whose
lives will forever be affected by the scars of violence. Through music, art
and play, War Child Netherlands seeks to bring back the child inside these
vulnerable young people, helping them to become functional adults and
vital members of their communities. It seeks to heal the unseen wounds of
these child victims, helping to restore a healthy community as a way of
ensuring a peaceful future.
War Child Netherlands would not exist without the vision and extraordinary commitment of its founder and executive director, Willemijn
Verloop. During the dark days of the Bosnian war, you met two British filmmakers carrying a bag of instruments on their way to a music therapy session with local children. Intrigued, you watched as the music they made
brought life and joy back into the eyes of the children gathered there that
day. The child inside of them was reborn.
So moved were you by the experience that you devoted the next fifteen
years to ensuring that the healing you witnessed that day could be expanded
a thousand-fold. In the years since, War Child Netherlands has reached out
to wounded children and communities in almost every country touched by
war. In Kosovo, Afghanistan, Uganda, Chechnya, Colombia, and many
other areas, you have worked tenaciously with local organizations of every
kind, and the children themselves, to develop flexible programs tailored to
the urgent needs of rehabilitation. Since it’s founding in 1994, your group
The Freedom from Fear Medal was presented to Willemijn Verloop, Founder and Director
of War Child Netherlands, by Elizabeth Roosevelt Johnston, great-granddaughter of
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and Atingo Jackline Owacgiu, former war child.
31
has grown dramatically—today it employs five hunderd field staff in eleven
countries. In some areas you have witnessed the bitterness of failure, as
local conditions threatened the safety of your workers and forced your retreat. But you never give up on these children, and today, War Child
Netherlands reaches a staggering fifteen thousand children each week.
When we see how children have been brutalized, forced into becoming
instruments of torture, cruelty, violence and murder, we know that many
think that such child soldiers are hopelessly damaged, doomed to the darkness of the lunacy that destroyed their years of childhood. But you and your
wonderful compatriots do not believe that—and you have done miraculous
work to turn killers back into children, and restore hope and decency to
their lives.
Through your music therapy, you bring the joy of song to those with no
hope.
Through physical education, you encourage young people to find their
wings.
Through art, you renew the ability of children to see beauty in the world
around them.
Through your efforts with War Child Netherlands, you have helped to
renew and restore the mental heath of the smallest victims of war.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood the debilitating
effects of living in fear. He believed that courage and decency and hard work
could defeat the forces of destruction. Today we salute an organization from
the land of his fathers that has done so much to make a better world.
32
WILLEMIJN VERLOOP’S SPEECH
ON BEHALF OF
WAR CHILD NETHERLANDS
IN ACCEPTANCE OF
THE FREEDOM FROM FEAR MEDAL
I
t is with gratitude, pride and humility that I accept this Freedom from
Fear Award on behalf of War Child.
Today, more than thirty wars and conflicts rage around the world. In
the coming years, the number is likely to get even higher, as the world confronts declining natural recourses, increasing food shortages and massive
migration due to climate change. Armed conflicts today reveal a shocking
pattern: over 80 percent of war casualties are civilians, most of them
women and children. Armed groups are more ruthless than ever. They often
intentionally target defenseless civilians. As my honored co-laureate Jan
Egeland put it: “the abuse of civilian populations in war today has regressed to the ‘darkest Middle Ages.’”
Children are amongst the first casualties of any armed conflict, and they
are always the most vulnerable and innocent victims. In the last decade
alone, at least 1.5 million children have died in wars. Four million have
become disabled, and a further ten million mentally scarred. Children suffer
horrible physical abuse in wartime, along with emotional problems such as
recurring nightmares, depressions, outbursts of anger and anguish. Many
are pessimistic about their future. Fear instead of hope defines their childhood.
My friend Jacky, who has just handed me this important medal, was one
of these war children. She and 138 other Aboke girls were abducted by the
LRA from their school in Northern-Uganda in 1996. Thanks to the efforts
of a determined teacher, 109 of the girls were freed, but 30 others were forced to stay. Jacky was one of those condemned to stay behind. But she was
ill, and her best friend offered to swap places. This changed their fates forever. Jacky’s life was saved, but her best friend did not survive the war.
During my latest visit to Colombia in March 2008, I met seventeenyear-old Rosa. She was both a victim and a perpetrator in a rebel’s war. At
the age of nine, she was enrolled by a guerilla group, and for the last eight
years she has suffered a catalogue of horrors, from sexual abuse to being
forced to participate in an attack on her own village.
Children are easily manipulated. When adults pressure them to do something, like to pull the trigger of a gun or clear a path in a mine field, they
do not hesitate. And child soldiers are often subjected to terrible coercion:
33
intoxication with drugs, threats to kill their families or manipulation
through a combination of harsh punishment and reward. Worldwide, there
are more than 250,000 child soldiers like Rosa. When these children are
demobilized or manage to escape, their chances of recovery depend on their
successful reintegration into normal society. But far too little attention is
paid to these crucial efforts, as the UN secretary general noted in his recent
report on children in armed conflict.
Let me also tell you about Miro. His childhood was cut short when the
war in Bosnia started. Miro was fourteen years old and wanted to be a soldier, so he could be a hero like Rambo. Because his parents would not let
him go fight, he forged their signatures. The next day he was walking
around with an antitank weapon. Miro soon discovered that his dreams of
Rambo were nothing like the reality of war.
These stories are only a few examples of the horrific experiences of
children in armed conflict. I made up most of their names. I would have preferred to have made up their stories. The severe psychological wounds that
war inflicts on children can scar them for life, crippling the very generations that face the task of rebuilding their devastated countries. Children
should be the first to benefit from the right to freedom from fear, which
President Franklin D. Roosevelt so powerfully described in his vision of a
new world. To ensure a peaceful future for our world, we must do everything
in our power to support these war children. But that new world cannot come
into being in a culture of war. Fear creates hate, as history teaches us, again
and again. If we refuse to learn from history, the millions of children growing up in oppression now might become the oppressors of the future.
Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize Martin Luther King, Jr. said: “A
culture of peace is what we need. We must fix our vision not merely on the
negative expulsion of war, but upon the positive affirmation of peace. Let’s
stop the arms race and start the peace race!” Together with many others, War
Child works to promote this culture of peace in Afghanistan, Chechnya,
Colombia, DR Congo, Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories,
Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Uganda, and also in the Netherlands, where
we support refugee children. Children are the future of these countries. By
investing in their empowerment through community-based psychosocial,
educational and peacebuilding programs, we want to fight the consequences
of war and ultimately create the conditions for peace. War Child strongly
believes that each child has the power and resilience to help turn the tide.
I started by telling you about Jacky, Rosa, and Miro. Their stories emphasize the devastating effects of war on innocent children. But there is more
to their stories. They also show us that these young individuals can change
the future.
34
Miro was the youngest soldier in the Bosnian army during the war.
But he exchanged his Kalashnikov for a Djembe drum. When playing the
drum, the sounds of war would leave his head, and he found peace within
himself again. Miro became one of our first War Child youth leaders, and he
was one of the driving forces of War Child’s Bosnia Program. We recently
closed the Bosnia program to move to other places where the need is greater, but Miro continues to dedicate himself to the culture of peace through
creative projects.
Rosa, from Colombia, is also slowly rebuilding a future for herself and
others. In the dangerous barrios of Bogota, she has started efforts to prevent other children from joining the armed forces. Rosa shows us that
where fear is replaced with hope, peace dawns.
And Jacky used the pain of her personal experience as a force to create
change for others. She worked for War Child in Uganda for three years, supporting hundreds of young victims. Now she studies human rights, development and social justice in The Hague. Jacky is determined to help protect
children’s rights in her country and in other war-torn countries around the
world.
Today, with this very prestigious award, the Roosevelt Institute
honors all the people who work relentlessly to address the horrors of war
inflicted on innocent children. You honor the many local War Child
employees working in conflict areas worldwide. You honor all those individuals who, often burdened with their own memories of war, dedicate their
lives to promoting peace. I am most grateful to you for this encouraging
acknowledgement.
Jacky, Miro, Rosa, and those like them are the young leaders in this
peace race. This Freedom from Fear Award is really theirs. These young
people show us that peace grows where fear is replaced with courage and
hope. It is their dedication that inspires us at War Child to assist in building
peace, wherever we can. We must not disappoint these inspiring young
people. Together, we are building a culture of peace. We ask all of you to
join us in this peace race.
35
AWARD OF THE FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT
FOUR FREEDOMS MEDAL TO
RICHARD VON WEIZSÄCKER
O
n this twenty-fourth day of May 2008, the Franklin Delano
Roosevelt Four Freedoms Medal is awarded to Richard von
Weizsäcker. This is well-deserved recognition of a man who has
proved himself to be a forceful advocate of the message President
Roosevelt broadcast to the world on January 6, 1941: “The world order
which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a
friendly, civilized society.”
Richard von Weizsäcker was of the opinion that it is better to resolve
conflicts that divide peoples and nations by opening doors rather than by
closing borders. He not only emphasized the importance of cooperation,
respect and reconciliation. He always acted on these principles.
As Mayor of Berlin, he strengthened the foundations of the city’s alliance with the West. Yet at the same time he reached out to East Germany, to
Poland and to the Soviet Union. In his own special way—with a soft voice
and a strong hand.
He was the last president of the western part of a divided Germany. And
he was the first president of a reunified Germany. With his calm authority
and his forgiving tone, he created good will and understanding both at
home and abroad for rapid German reunification. He gave and received trust.
He was a major force behind reunification—and in determining how the two
Germanies would become one. During Richard von Weizsäcker’s presidency, what many deemed to be impossible proved to be possible: the painful
breach between East and West was healed peacefully and successfully. We all
witnessed this historic step. A historic step for Germany, and for Europe.
Dr. Von Weizsäcker also saw Europe undergo a complete transformation.
Indeed, he actively contributed to it. With German reunification as its
example, Europe, too, put aside its divisions, and opted for a joint future.
On May 1, 2004, ten new member states acceded to the European
Union. Eight of these countries had been hidden away for many years
behind the Iron Curtain. I am sure that on that day, Richard von
Weizsäcker’s heart beat a little faster. And that on that day the sun shone
The Four Freedoms Medal was presented to Richard von Weizsäcker by Jan Peter
Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Anna Eleanor
Roosevelt, granddaughter of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Co-Chair of the Franklin
and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute.
37
brighter for him—as it did for millions of others in Europe and the rest of
the world.
Richard von Weizsäcker’s life reflects eighty-eight years of European
history. A turbulent history, which he helped to mold in his own unique
way. He led his nation in confronting its past. And he did so majestically.
During a remembrance ceremony forty years after the end of World War
II, Dr. Von Weizsäcker spoke frankly and without restraint about the crimes
committed by National Socialist Germany. He helped his fellow countrymen comprehend the agony of the Nazi years. He relieved younger generations of the burden of responsibility for what happened in the past. But in
doing so, he made this urgent appeal: “Anyone who closes his eyes to the
past is blind to the present. Whoever refuses to remember the inhumanity
is prone to new risks of infection.” His speech touched the hearts and souls
of many people. Among them was His Royal Highness Prince Claus of the
Netherlands. Indeed, Dr. Von Weizsäcker’s words made such an impression
on him that he ensured the text was translated into Dutch, and wrote the
foreword to the publication. “I am convinced,” said Prince Claus in this
foreword, “that in this courageous speech, Richard von Weizsäcker expressed the feelings and views of the vast majority of the German people, both
young and old. He also expressed my feelings.”
I am convinced that if Franklin Delano Roosevelt had been in the
German parliament on May 8, 1985, he would have nodded his head in
agreement at the final words of your impressive speech:
Let us honor freedom.
Let us work for peace.
Let us respect the rule of law.
Let us be true to our own conception of justice.
Let us face up as well as we can to the truth.
It is a great honor and a privilege to present you with the Four Freedoms
Medal 2008. You are a champion of freedom, reconciliation and unity. You
are a statesman, whose courage and humanity place you among the greatest
leaders of postwar history. This generation, and the generations to come,
may be grateful to you for all you have accomplished for Germany, for
Europe, and for every one of us.
38
RICHARD VON WEIZSÄCKER’S SPEECH
IN ACCEPTANCE OF
THE FOUR FREEDOMS MEDAL
O
n behalf of all the five laureates I would like to express from all
my heart our sincere gratitude for the high honor bestowed upon
us today.
In his Four Freedoms Speech delivered to the U.S. Congress in January
1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the political and moral
basis for a worldwide alliance against barbarism and for humanity. The goal
set by this speech was— and still is—the freedom of speech and expression, the freedom of worship, the freedom from want and the freedom from
fear.
The freedom of speech and expression as well as the freedom of religion are classical and liberal freedoms. They were already codified during the
French Revolution and in the American Bill of Rights. They are fundamental bastions of protection against authoritarianism.
The call for freedom from want and from fear reaches far beyond: it aims
at securing the social existence of man—nationally and globally. In the
midst of World War II Franklin D. Roosevelt developed his extraordinary
vision of a global responsibility which transcends all borders.
Ever since, his idea of the Four Freedoms has increasingly become of
universal importance. Shortly after World War II the Four Freedoms were
made a central part of the preamble of the United Nations’ Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. But their impact is still by far not strong
enough.
The primary goal for the foundation of the United Nations had been the
prevention of another world war. This is why the Security Council was
installed as the power center. Up to today, its agenda is still dominated by
challenges of armament and use of armed forces.
Presently, however, an ever growing part of the world population suffers from challenges which cannot be met simply by military means.
Freedom from want and freedom from fear are threatened by climate change,
by hunger and illness, by persecution and forced upon migration without
end.
After the Cold War, there is no “end of history.” We need to withstand
the concern about a “clash of civilizations” by means of a collective responsibility for the future of the planet.
Well beyond his own lifetime Franklin D. Roosevelt’s concept of the
Four Freedoms has been blazing a trail. Today, more than sixty years after
39
his death, its importance is more vital than ever.
It was Roosevelt who spoke of the “one world.” Shortly before he died,
he left us this legacy: “That we cannot live alone, at peace. That our own
well-being is depending on the well-being of other nations—far away. We
have learned to be citizens of the world, members of the human communit y. We have learned the simple truth of Emerson that ‘the only way to have
a friend is to be one.”
40
REMARKS ON BEHALF OF THE ROOSEVELT FAMILY
BY TRACY ROOSEVELT,
GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER OF
FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT
I
t is a distinct honor and privilege for me to bring greetings not only
from the Roosevelt family, but also from a new generation that seeks
to discover in the Four Freedoms fresh inspiration for a troubled
world. The ideas seem so simple—freedom of speech and worship; freedom
from want and fear—yet the challenge to secure these basic human rights
remain as daunting today as they ever were.
I am here today to tell you that my generation is ready to take up that
challenge. We truly believe, as my great-grandparents did, that we must nurture the concept that we live not so much in a multitude of nation states
separated by different “national interests,” but in a world community made
up of diverse cultures and traditions linked through a common humanity. It
is this common humanity which found expression in the simple eloquence
of my great-grandfather; that inspired my great-grandmother Eleanor
Roosevelt to translate these principles into the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
My generation is eager to join with you in securing for all peoples—
everywhere in the world—the dignity that comes with these basic human
rights. Together, let us fashion a world community guided by tolerance and
compassionate understanding. I am sure our children—the next generation—would expect no less.
41
THE FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
FOUR FREEDOMS AWARDS LAUREATES
IN MIDDELBURG 1982-2008
1982
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
H.R.H. Princess Juliana
of the Netherlands
Max van der Stoel
Willem A. Visser ‘t Hooft
H. Johannes Witteveen
J. Herman van Roijen
1984
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Harold Macmillan
Amnesty International
Werner Leich &
Christiaan F. Beyers Naudé
Freedom from Want Award:
Liv Ullmann
Freedom from Fear Award:
Brian Urquhart
Eleanor Roosevelt Centennial Award: Simone Veil
1986
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Alessandro Pertini
El País
Bernardus Cardinal Alfrink
Bradford Morse
Olof Palme (posthumously)
1988
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Helmut Schmidt
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Teddy Kollek
Halfdan T. Mahler
Armand Hammer
1990
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Václav Havel & Jacques Delors
László Tökés
Jonkheer Emile van Lennep
Simon Wiesenthal
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1992
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Mstislav Rostropovich
Terry Waite
Jan Tinbergen
The Rt. Hon. The Lord Carrington
1994
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Four Freedoms Award:
His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Marion Gräfin Dönhoff
Gerhart M. Riegner
Sadako Ogata
Zdravko Grebo
1995
(in Utre c h t )
Ruud Lubbers
1996
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
His Majesty The King of Spain
John Hume
The Right Reverend Lord Runcie
Artsen zonder Grenzen
Shimon Peres
1998
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Mary Robinson
CNN
The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu
Stéphane Hessel
Free the Children
2000
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Martti Ahtisaari
Bronislaw Geremek
Dame Cicely Saunders
Monkombu S. Swaminathan
Louise Arbour
2002
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
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Nelson Mandela
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Nasr H. Abu Zayd
Gro Harlem Brundtland
Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Léon
2004
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Kofi Annan
Lennart Meri
Sari Nusseibeh
Magguie Barankitse
Max Kohnstamm
2006
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Mohamed ElBaradei
Carlos Fuentes
Taizé Community
Muhammad Yunus
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
2008
Four Freedoms Award:
Freedom of Speech Award:
Freedom of Worship Award:
Freedom from Want Award:
Freedom from Fear Award:
Richard von Weizsäcker
Lakhdar Brahimi
Karen Armstrong
Jan Egeland
War Child
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A WORD ABOUT
THE FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT INSTITUTE
AND
THE ROOSEVELT STICHTING
The Four Freedoms Medals are presented each year by the Franklin and
Eleanor Roosevelt Institute at Hyde Park, New York, to men and women
whose achievements have demonstrated a commitment to those principles
which President Roosevelt proclaimed in his historic speech to Congress
on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: Freedom of Speech and
Expression, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, Freedom from Fear.
The Roosevelt Institute has awarded the Freedoms Medals to some of the
most distinguished Americans of our time, including Harry S. Truman,
General George C. Marshall, John F. Kennedy, Adlai E. Stevenson, W.
Averell Harriman, George F. Kennan, John Kenneth Galbraith, J. William
Fulbright, Elie Wiesel, Arthur Miller, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton.
The international award of the Four Freedoms Medals, which is made in
Middelburg, the Netherlands, in even-numbered years, began in 1982, the
centennial of President Roosevelt’s birth and bicentennial of diplomatic
relations between the United States and the Netherlands. In odd-numbered
years the awards are presented to Americans in Hyde Park, New York.
The work of the Roosevelt Institute represents a continuing dedication
to the faith Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt so superbly embodied—faith in
human freedom, in social purpose, in the inexhaustible strength of democracy, and in the abiding capacity of man to control the world he has created.
The Roosevelt Stichting is a private Dutch foundation established to
organize the Four Freedoms Awards ceremony in Middelburg and for that
purpose cooperates with the Roosevelt Institute and the Roosevelt Study
Center.
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A WORD ABOUT THE ROOSEVELT STUDY CENTER
The Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg, the Netherlands, was founded in
1984 and opened its doors to the public in 1986. It is dedicated to the
memory of three famous Americans: President Theodore Roosevelt (18581919), President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) and Eleanor
Roosevelt (1884-1962), who trace their roots to the Dutch province of
Zeeland from where their common ancestor left for the New World in the
mid-seventeenth century. The Roosevelt Study Center is affiliated with the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and supported by the
Provincial Government of Zeeland.
The Roosevelt Study Center’s mission is to advance academic
research and engage in public debate on modern U.S. history and EuropeanAmerican relations. The Center achieves its objectives by providing:
A research library with archival and online resources;
Research grants to facilitate visits to the Center;
Staff research projects and scholarly publications;
Academic conferences, seminars, and film presentations;
Public lectures and debates;
Media expertise;
Undergraduate/post-graduate education at several universities;
Staff membership in national and international scholarly networks
and communities;
Administrative and organizational support to the Netherlands
American Studies Association.
For more information please contact the Roosevelt Study Center,
Abdij 8, P.O. Box 6001, 4330 LA Middelburg, the Netherlands
tel. +31 118-631590, fax +31 118-631593, e-mail [email protected],
or visit our website: www.roosevelt.nl
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