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Dr. Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Laureate, will visit Trinity to speak in the Washington Room on Wednesday, February 26 at 7 p.m. The talk, entitled “Peace, Justice and Human Rights in the 21st Century,” is part of the human rights program’s spring lecture series.

“Arias is the perfect depiction of someone who has leadership and integrity,” says Maryam Elahi, director of the Human Rights Program. “Not only does he have ideas about to how to tackle large problems but he has also been in positions of power where he has very effectively solved those problems and enacted change through peaceful means.”

Arias won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987, following his initiation of the Arias Peace Plan, which culminated in the signing of the Esquipulas II Accords or the Procedure to Establish a Firm and Lasting Peace in Central America by all the Central American presidents on August 7, 1987.

In 1988, Arias used the $1 million monetary award from the Nobel Peace Prize to establish the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress. Under the auspices of the Foundation, three programs were established: The Center for Human Progress, to promote equal opportunities for women in all sectors of Central American society; the Center for Organized Participation, to foster strong civil society in Latin America; and the Center for Peace and Reconciliation, to work for demilitarization and conflict resolution in the developing world. From these same headquarters, Arias has continued his pursuit of global peace and human security.

Arias has received honorary doctorates from several prominent institutions, including Harvard University, Dartmouth College, and Princeton University. He has also received numerous awards and distinctions, among them the Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Award, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, and the Liberty Medal of Philadelphia.

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