Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for 2019: David Attenborough

Renowned naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough will be conferred the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for the year 2019. He was selected for the 2019 prize by an international jury chaired by former President Pranab Mukherjee. He is being awarded the prize for a lifetime of doing more to reveal wonders of natural world to people than perhaps any other individual.

About David Attenborough

He has worked tirelessly to awaken humankind to the need to- preserve and protect biodiversity of the planet, to live in a sustainable and harmonious way with all life. He also advocated for stopping what he has called: ‘a plague on earth’.

His work, most of it for BBC, has received widespread recognition across the world. Apart from his knighthood ‘Sir’, he has received awards from Royal Geographical Society, the Micheal Faraday Prize, UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize, the Descartes Prize and Fellowship of the Royal Society, as well as several Emmy and BAFTA awards.

About Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

It is annual prestigious award named after former prime minister Indira Gandhi. It is conferred every year by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust since 1986 and consists of and a citation and a monetary award of Rs.25 lakh.

The award recognizes creative efforts by individuals/organizations working towards creating new international economic order, promoting international peace & development as well as ensuring that scientific discoveries are used for larger good of humanity and enlarging the scope of freedom.

Earlier Recipients: First recipient: Parliamentarians for Global Action (1986); Others– UNICEF (1989), Rajiv Gandhi (1991), M S Swaminathan (1999), Kofi Annan (2003), Angel Merkel (2013), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) (2014) and UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) (2015), Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (2017) and Centre for Science and Environment (2018).