Williams, Jody, 1950–, American social activist, b. Putney, Vt., grad. Univ. of Vermont (B.A., 1972), School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vt. (M.A., 1976), Johns Hopkins (M.A., 1984). After teaching English as a second language in Mexico, Britain, and the United States, she settled in Los Angeles. She coordinated (1984–86) the Nicaragua-Honduras Education Project and was (1986–92) deputy director of Medical Aid to El Salvador. In 1992 she founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), and until 1998 was its coordinator and chief spokesperson. In 1997, after the signing of a treaty banning the use, productions, stockpiling, and transfer of antipersonnel mines, she and ICBL were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Editor (1999–2004) of the group's Landmine Monitor Report, Williams continues to write and lecture as an ICBL international ambassador. In 2007 she was named leader of a United Nations mission investigating human-rights abuses in Darfur, Sudan.
See her After the Guns Fall Silent (with S. Roberts, 1995).
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Social Reformers
