Humanistisk hederspris til Andrew Copson

Andrew Copson har vært president i Humanists International siden 2015, og har varslet sin avgang under generalforsamlingen i Luxembourg i juli.

I denne perioden har Humanists International vært gjennom store endringer, og Andrew Copsons lederskap har vært avgjørende.

I sin tale til Copson under en nordisk humanistkonferanse i Stockholm på lørdag, trakk Human-Etisk Forbunds generalsekretær Trond Enger fram at Copsons lederegenskaper måtte ha vært tydelige fra ung alder.

– Andrew ble generalsekretær i en av verdens største humanistorganisasjoner, Humanists UK, i en alder av bare 29 år. Jeg antar styret på den tiden så hvilke talenter som lå i den unge kommunikasjonsrådgiveren, understreket Enger.

Han trakk også fram Copsons evner til å knytte bånd og bygge nettverk.

– Det er ingen tilfeldighet at vi har framtredende profiler som Stephen Fry og Salman Rushdie som talspersoner i bevegelsen vår, sa han.

# Copson som Gud

Den nordiske humanistiske hedersprisen er en spesialutgave av Human-Etisk Forbunds hederspris som tidligere har gått til Levi Fragell, Andreas Heldahl-Lund, Bente Sandvig og Jens Brun-Pedersen.

I tillegg til et diplom signert av styrelederne i de seks nordiske humanistorganisasjonene, fikk Copson en spesialbestilt karikaturtegning av den britiske illustratøren Martin Rowson. Den forestiller Copson som en gud, inspirert av Michelangelos framstilling av Gud i Det sixtinske kapell i Vatikanet.

I sin takketale trakk Copson fram hvilken glede det har vært å lede Humanists International de siste ti årene. Han håpet også Humanists UK en dag kan regnes som en nordisk humanistorganisasjon.   

– Vi har mye å bidra med, og lære av, i et nordisk fellesskap, sa han.

Les Trond Engers tale til Andrew Copson i anledning prisutdelingen her:

Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and fellow humanists.

It is a privilege and a joy to stand before you today to honor a man whose leadership and commitment have left an historical mark on the global humanist movement:

Mr. Andrew Copson.

For the past ten years, Andrew has served as President of Humanists International. During these years, he has guided the global humanist movement with commitment and compassion.

Under his leadership, Humanists International has grown. Not only in number of member organizations, but also as a global voice for secularism, reason and human rights.

Andrew’s HI presidency began in 2015. Through all these years, he has also held the challenging position as CEO in one the world’s largest humanist associations – Humanists UK.

We can all understand that we are dealing with an exceptional person, when we consider that Andrew became Humanists UK’s top executive in 2010, at the young age of 29. I guess the board at the time saw what talents lay in the young public affairs-director and decided to give him a go at the top position.

They were not mistaken!

A clear sign of Andrew’s resolve and ability to break with old patterns, is that both of the organizations he has been leading through the last 10-15 years changed their name during his tenure. The names changed from “IHEU – The International Humanist and Ethical Union” and “The British Humanist Association”, into names that follow the same simple formula and communicate much better; “Humanists International” and “Humanists UK”.

Andrew’s social and networking skills are also worth mentioning. There is no coincidence that we have prominent figures like Stephen Fry and Salman Rushdie as patrons of our movement. It is a testament to Andrew’s influence and outreach.

Through the years in Humanists International, Andrew has been a tireless advocate for freedom of thought and belief, representing our movement at the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and countless other international forums. He has spoken out for people who live without religion, often in societies where doing so is dangerous or even life-threatening.

During his tenure, Humanists International has supported countless humanists who is being persecuted because of their beliefs, and launched new initiatives to advocate for secular values, both internationally and in a range of individual countries.

Andrew has championed the rights of non-religious people in every corner of the globe, from defending persecuted atheists in authoritarian regimes to supporting grassroots humanist organizations in emerging democracies.

Under his leadership, Humanists International has become more inclusive and more representative of the global humanist family. He has empowered marginalized voices like the LGBT+ community, and reminded us all of the power of solidarity.

It is with gratitude that we, the Nordic humanist associations, come together today to present Andrew Copson with a special honorary award. This award is not only a recognition of his service as President of Humanists International through the last ten years – it is also a celebration of his unprecedented impact on our movement.

We have also commissioned the British cartoonist Martin Rowson, that we have heard is a favorite of yours, to make a little something for you, that we hope you will appreciate.

We also asked Rowson to make six signed copies of the cartoon. These will be handed out to these to all the Nordic organizations: We hope they will display them prominently in their offices. At least I promise that we will find a good place for is at our office in Oslo.

We are also happy, of course, that we will not lose Andrew completely. He will continue as CEO of Humanists UK and I am confident that he will make his mark on the international humanist movement in many, many years to come.   

On behalf of humanists across the Nordic countries, we thank you Andrew!