The International Labour Organization was awarded the Peace Prize since it has done most to promote fraternity among nations by ensuring social justice, the Nobel Committee said. "Beneath the foundation stone of the ILO's main office in Geneva lies a document on which is written: 'Si vis pacem, cole justitiam. If you desire peace, cultivate justice'."
The Nobel Peace Prize for 1969
"Working earnestly and untiringly, the ILO has succeeded in introducing reforms that have removed the most flagrant injustices in a great many countries, particularly in Europe. By means of a levering of income and a progressive policy of social welfare, the ILO has played its part in these countries in bridging the gap between rich and poor", the Nobel Committee said in its Award Ceremony Speech.
David A. Morse: ILO wants people to be able to "take their place in society as free, dignified and self-governing people."
The Director-general of the ILO explained the organization seeks to achieve "the elimination of poverty, hardship and privation which weigh so heavily upon the dispossessed peoples of this earth. Our Organisation is central to the international effort to raise their standards of living, to improve their living and working conditions, and to secure to them fundamental human rights, to the end that they may take their place in society as free, dignified and self-governing people.
To the extent that our efforts, and those of governments and members of the international community, are successsful in achieving these ends, the basis will be laid for a stable and durable system of world peace." He said the Nobel Peace Prize "will be a continuing inspiration to us in all of our efforts, in the years to come, to help to construct a more just society in a world of peace".
