Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/2020415/nobel-laureate-aung-san-suu-kyi-gets-harvard-humanitarian
Asia/ Southeast Asia

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi gets Harvard humanitarian award

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Photo: AP

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been honoured as the 2016 humanitarian of the year by students and faculty at the Harvard Foundation.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate gained international prominence as the General Secretary of the newly formed National League for Democracy in Myanmar in 1990. She became one of the world’s most well-known political prisoners during her 15 years of house arrest for participating in anti-government protests. Her country later supported her, and she was appointed to the newly created position of state counselor, which is similar to prime minister.

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Committee praised her for her “non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights”.

She received the foundation’s Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award during a ceremony on Saturday.

The annual award is presented to individuals whose have helped improved lives and inspired others. Past recipients include former UN chief Kofi Annan, singer Lionel Richie for his support for charity and then fellow Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by Taliban insurgents for speaking out about female education.