Sydney: Prominent novelist and Human Rights activist Arundhati Roy has been awarded the 2004 Sydney Peace Prize for her work in social campaigns and advocacy of non-violence.

"Arundhati Roy is a distinguished world citizen. She is an outstanding communicator, who writes with great clarity and grace. At a time of terrible disregard for human life, we need to hear from citizens like Arundhati Roy," director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, Professor Stuart Rees said.

The prize, the only international peace prize awarded in Australia, was announced by the Foundation's chairman Alan Cameron last night (May 21, 2004).

"Arundhati Roy has been recognised for her courage in campaigns for Human Rights and for her advocacy of non-violence, as expressed in her demands for justice for the poor, for the victims of communal violence, for the millions displaced by the Narmada dam projects and for her opposition to nuclear weapons," the jury's citation read.

Each year the prize is awarded to an organisation or individual who has made significant contributions to global peace, including improvements in personal security and steps towards eradicating poverty and other forms of structural violence.

Roy, author of the 1997 Booker Prize winning 'The God of Small Things', will deliver the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture in Sydney on November 3.