Professor Amos C. Sawyer, member of the APR Panel of Eminent Persons, was among 20 laureates of the 2011 Gusi Peace Prize, who were recognized in a ceremony in Manilla on Nov. 24, 2011. Sawyer, who was the President of the Interim Government of National Unity in Liberia from November 1990 to March 1994, was honoured for his efforts in peace building in Liberia and the African Continent.

In a write-up posted on the web site of the Gusi Peace Prize International Organization, Sawyer is described as “a Liberian citizen who has worked tirelessly for peace and the establishment of democratic governance in his home country as well as for the establishment and strengthening of institutions and processes of democratic governance and development in Africa.”

Professor Sawyer is further described as being “well known for his work in promotion of democratic governance and socio-economic development through regional integration. He has led numerous missions on peace-building and elections observation and has been deeply involved in the strengthening of civil society and the building of African capacity to sustain institutions and processes of democratic governance. He now serves as a Member of the Panel of Eminent Persons of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), an affiliate of NEPAD.

Prof. Amos C. SawyerThe Panel of Eminent Persons, at full strength, consists of seven distinguished Africans. Members of the Panel have the responsibility of leading technical missions to review the performance of APRM member-countries in critical areas of political, economic and social governance. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Centre for Development and Strategic Studies (ACDESS). More recently, Professor Sawyer and a number of other distinguished Africans have become involved in an initiative to establish the Pan-African Centre for Youth Development.”