Dame Margaret Anstee DCMG

After a spell in the British diplomatic service, Dame Margaret joined the United Nations where she served for more than four decades, rising to the rank of Under-Secretary-General. She was the first woman to reach this position and the first woman to head a UN peacekeeping mission.

Over the course of her career, Dame Margaret lived in 15 countries and visited over 130 on official missions. From 1952 to 1987 she directed operational programmes for economic and social development in every developing region of the world. She was then appointed Director-General of the UN in Vienna and, until 1992, served concurrently as Head of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs and as the coordinator of all UN narcotic drug control programmes. From 1992 to 1993 she was the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative to Angola and head of the UN peacekeeping mission there (UNAVEM II: the UN Angola Verification Mission).

'My message to the new generation of women is: never forget that you are still pioneers! Keep up the good work and, above all, work together to strengthen the role of future women. This troubled world, and the UN, need now, more than ever, to capture the energy, ideas and insights of our half of humanity, too long ignored.'

Since leaving the UN in July 1993, Dame Margaret has worked ad honorem as an independent consultant and lecturer on issues relating to the United Nations, and, until 2006, as a special adviser to the president and government of Bolivia on development and international finance. She is a member of UNA-UK's expert advisory panel.

Her book Orphan of the Cold War: the Inside Story of the Collapse of the Angolan Peace Process 1992-3 was published in October 1996. Her autobiography, Never Learn to Type: A Woman at the United Nations, was released in 2003.

Her latest book, The House on the Sacred Lake, was published in 2009. It charts her personal journey, building a home and living in an Andean community on the shores of Lake Titicaca, while at the same time advising successive Bolivian governments.

Sir Brian Urquhart

Named in his honour, this award celebrates Sir Brian's unparalleled contribution to the UN. A veteran of World War II, Sir Brian was the second person recruited to the fledgling UN Secretariat and was instrumental in creating the Organisation's administrative framework. He served at the UN for four decades, playing a critical role in the direction of peacekeeping operations – notably in the Middle East, Cyprus, Kashmir, Lebanon and the Congo – and in the establishment of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Having started out as personal assistant to Trygvie Lie, the first Secretary-General of the UN, Sir Brian retired in 1986 at the rank of Under-Secretary-General, after taking over as head of Special Political Affairs in 1972.

Sir Brian is a member of UNA-UK's expert advisory panel. His books include Hammarskjöld; Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey; and A Life in Peace and War.

Lord Hannay of Chiswick

Lord Hannay of Chiswick is an independent member of the House of Lords and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on the UN. His diplomatic career began in 1959 and included postings in Tehran, Kabul, Brussels and Washington. He served as British Ambassador to the European Communities (1985-90), and to the UN (1990-95). Following his retirement, he was British Special Representative for Cyprus (1996- 2003), and a member of the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, which submitted its report in December 2004. In 2001 he was created a life peer and in 2003 he was made a Companion of Honour. He was Chairman of UNA-UK from January 2001 to January 2006.