Dalai Lama congratulates US House Speaker Pelosi on winning Democracy award 

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi pictured in May 2017  when the latter led a high-level bipartisan US Congressional delegation to Dharamsala, the exile headquarters of the Tibetan people.

 

DHARAMSALA,  10 Dec: His Holiness the Dalai Lama has congratulated the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for being awarded the National Democratic Institute’s(NDI) Democracy Award.

The Dalai Lama, congratulating Speaker Pelosi on being conferred the NDI’s Democracy Award expressed his deep admiration for her “determination and courage to show support about Tibetan struggle.”

“You visited Tibet and also came here. So I really appreciate it. For Tibetans, your life is very very precious and important,” the Tibetan Nobel Laureate said in a recorded video message on Wednesday.

The Dalai Lama who often describes Speaker Pelosi as an old friend and a staunch supporter of the Tibetan people and the Tibet issue concluded by wishing the Speaker a long and healthy life.

Speaker Pelosi was awarded the 2020 Leadership in Democracy Award for her groundbreaking leadership as a woman political leader, and for her staunch defence of democracy and human rights around the globe at a Virtual Democracy Gala on Tuesday.

NDI’s award citation described her “a champion of international democracy and human rights during her entire career in the US Congress,” and a “lifelong defender of the Tibetan people, and of journalists, human rights lawyers and democracy activists imprisoned on the Chinese mainland.”

Speaker Pelosi,  thanked Kenneth Wollack, the President of the NDI for his leadership in her address and thanked the efforts of the NDI to promote and strengthen democracy worldwide.

She further vowed to support the voiceless and the oppressed people around the world and said, “We come together today grateful for the efforts of the National Democratic Institute to promote and strengthen democracy worldwide. Thank you, for your leadership as President of NDI.

“America has been the greatest force for peace and freedom in history because we have sought to use our power wisely and generously. Everywhere I travel, the call is clear: the world needs America to lead. We must reclaim our rightful place in the community of nations, with a sustainable foreign policy that reflects American values,” the Speaker said.

“The pursuit of freedom is difficult. There are times when our democratic values seem at odds with other interests. But it is in our national interest to reconcile them,”cshe added.

“To build that future we must forge a sustainable and bipartisan foreign policy that reflects American values and restores our leadership in the world. And NDI is helping us do so — promoting the American ideal of democracy around the world. Thank you,”  she concluded.

Founded in 1983, the NDI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions around the world through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

NDI’s Leadership in Democracy Award recognizes individuals and organizations from around the world that have carried out NDI’s mission of “working for democracy and making democracy work” through innovative or non-traditional means.

To honour the role humour plays in democracy and to celebrate humour as a vital form of free speech, NDI awarded 2019 Leadership in Democracy Award to comedian Trevor Noah.

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