Today marks the end of the 30-day period of mourning for Jimmy Carter, 39th U.S. President of the United States, who died on December 29, 2024, age 100. Carter was known for so many humanitarian undertakings that to list or describe them all would be impossible. One of his many endeavors was the establishment of the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1982. The Carter Center “seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and improve health.”
For these, and his many other initiatives, Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.” His award came exactly 80 years after the same prize was awarded to Fridtjof Nansen in 1922 “for his leading role in the repatriation of prisoners of war, in international relief work and as High Commissioner for refugees.”
Thus, it came as no surprise to me to recently learn that Tom Buergenthal established the Human Rights Program at the Carter Center, and was the Program’s director from its inception in 1986 until 1989.
Shortly after Tom Buergenthal passed away in May 2023, the Carter Center posted on its website the following:
“Judge Buergenthal’s contributions to the establishment of human rights as a set of standards for policy making are well known and universally admired. The Carter Center is proud to call him the founder of its still-thriving Human Rights Program.”
RIP Jimmy Carter and Tom Buergenthal—and Fridtjof Nansen—all giant humanitarians.
