Mercy Corps up for Nobel

Published on Monday 12 February 2007 12:58

EDINBURGH-BASED charity Mercy Corps has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The humanitarian organisation, which has its European HQ in the Capital, helped rebuild lives and communities in south Asia after a devastating tsunami two years ago.

It is still shipping emergency supplies such as soap to thousands of victims in Indonesia - one of the worst-hit countries.

Mercy Corps has been nominated for the award by American Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a steadfast supporter of the charity's work. He is the US representative in Oregon, where the American headquarters of Mercy Corps is based, and in August last year he travelled to see the charity's recovery programmes in New Orleans, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

He also worked with the charity on addressing Iraq's growing humanitarian and refugee crisis.

"I am privileged to nominate Mercy Corps, which consistently shows creativity and entrepreneurship in addressing the toughest problems of the developing world," Mr Blumenauer said.

"I have seen Mercy Corps in action under incredibly difficult circumstances. It is a global leader and is more than deserving of this prestigious nomination." Mervyn Lee, Mercy Corp's Edinburgh boss, said it was a great honour to be nominated for the prize.