Lula - Awards and Recognition

Awards and Recognition

Since Lula began his term as President, he has attained numerous medals, such as the Brazilian Order of Merit, the Brazilian Orders of Military, Naval and Aeronautical Merit, the Brazilian Order of Scientific Merit, the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle and the Norwegian Order of Royal Merit; the First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine, 2003), the Order of Liberty (Ukraine, 2009). He also received the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2003 and was the chief guest at India's Republic Day celebration in 2004. He was also given the Jawaharlal Nehru Award in 2006. He was rated the most popular Brazilian president of all time with an 80.5% approval rate in his last months as the president.

US President Barack Obama greeted him at the G20 summit in London (April, 2009) saying: "That's my man right there...love this guy...The most popular politician on earth."

Lula was chosen as the 2009 Man of the Year by prominent European newspapers El País and Le Monde. The Financial Times ranks Lula among the 50 faces that shaped the 2000s.

On 20 December 2008, he was named the 18th most important person in the world by Newsweek magazine, and was the only Latin American person featured in a list of 50 most influential World leaders.

On July 7, 2009, he received UNESCO's Félix Houphouët-Boigny Peace Prize at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. On 5 November 2009, President Lula was awarded the Chatham House Prize, awarded to the statesperson who is deemed by Chatham House members to have made the most significant contribution to the improvement of international relations in the previous year.

On 29 January 2010, President Lula was awarded as a Global Statesman by the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland, but could not attend the ceremony due to problems of high blood pressure.

In 2010, Time Magazine named Lula one of the most influential leaders of the world.

On 27 September 2011, President Lula received a doctorate honoris causa from the Paris Institute of Political Studies, commonly known as Sciences Po.

On October 14, 2011, President Lula received the 2011 World Food Prize, along with John Kufuor, for his personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the president of Brazil, and for creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in his country.