They are a part of another 1000 women, who have been nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, representatives of the Croatian Peace Studies Centre told a news conference in Zagreb last Tuesday.
Croatian nominees are Dragica Aleksa from the 'Luc' society for the promotion of dialogue and nonviolence from the eastern Croatian town of Berak, Mirjana Bilopalovic from the 'Delfin' association based in the town of Pakrac (150 kilometres east of Zagreb), Jelka Glumicic from the Human Rights Committee in Karlovac (50 kilometres south of Zagreb), Biserka Momcinovic of the Civil Initiatives Centre from the northern coastal city of Porec, Spasenija Moro from the Osijek-based Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights, and Ana Raffai from the Regional Address of Nonviolent Action in Zagreb's eastern residential area Sesvete.
The above-mentioned Peace Studies Centre proposed these six women for the award, and sent applications through an international invitation, organised by the Swiss parliament.
Vesna Terselic of the Croatian centre explained that the Swiss parliament launched this initiative about nominating a larger number of women given that men had so far held a dominant position both in nominations and among laureates, although " it is women who mostly work on building of peace and whose work has not been sufficiently recognised and evaluated".
During the war and in the wake of the war, the six Croatian nominees focused their work on victims of the war and victims of all forms of violence, trying to help them to recover from traumas and continue living a life free of hatred, Terselic said.
The winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize will be selected in October, and the award-giving ceremony will be in December.