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September 29, 2011Ms. Irina BokovaDirector-General of UNESCOUNESCO Headquarters7, place de Fontenoy75352 Paris 07 SPFrancecc: Members of the Executive Board of UNESCORE: UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasongo International Prize forResearch in the Life SciencesDear Ms. Bokova:We are concerned to learn that UNESCO may be consideringreinstating the UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo InternationalPrize for Research in the Life Sciences. We understand that thematter is on the agenda for discussion at the current 187
th
sessionof the executive board. We join the many global voices who spokeout last year to condemn this prize, which is named for and fundedby Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang NguemaMbasogo, Africa’s longest-serving leader. We are deeply troubledby the well-documented record of human rights abuse, repressionof press freedom, and official corruption that have marked his rule.We write to you as individuals who firmly believe that UNESCOshould not lend its prestige to a prize in President Obiang’s name.We urge you to block this effort to reinstate the UNESCO-Obiangprize and to instead cancel it definitively.Sincerely,
 
Chinua Achebe
Novelist and PoetWinner of 2007 Man Booker Prize, among other honors(Nigeria)
Kwame Anthony Appiah
 President, PEN-American Center1992 Winner of Herskovitz Prize for African Studies in English, among other honorsProfessor of Philosophy, Princeton University(Ghana/United Kingdom)
Homero Aridjis
 Poet and NovelistFormer Ambassador of Mexico to UNESCOPEN International President Emeritus(Mexico)
Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Harruna Attah
Editor of 
The Mail
 Secretary General, International PEN Pan African Network (Ghana)
Lydia Cacho
2008 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Laureate(Mexico)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Poet2003 Winner of Author’s Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honorsCo-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers(United States)
Mónica González
2010 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize Laureate(Chile)
Gloria Guardia de Alfaro
Winner of 1966 Ricardo Miro Prize, among other honorsInternational Vice President, International PEN(Panama/Colombia)
Tom Hayden
Author and ActivistFounder and Director, Peace and Justice Resource Center(United States)
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