List of Nansen Refugee Award recipients

The Nansen Refugee Award is a medal issued annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, displaced, or stateless people.[1] The award was established by UNHCR the organizations first High Commissioner, Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart 1954 as a tribute to Fridtjof Nansen.[2] Fridtjof Nansen was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, explorer, and League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees[3] and the award was established in honour of his work to support refugees.[4] Van Heuven Goedhart felt that creating an award would increase the world's attention to the needs of refugees and increase global refugee aid.[2]

Nansen Refugee Award
Logo
Awarded forOutstanding service to the cause of refugees
LocationGeneva
Presented byUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Reward(s)US$150,000
First awarded1954
Websitewww.unhcr.org/nansen
The top of the Nansen Medal reads: "Nestekjærlighet er Realpolitik" (English: Altruism is Practical Politics)

The inaugural awardee was Eleanor Roosevelt in 1954.[5] Every year, the prize is presented at a ceremony in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, in Geneva.[6][7] The medal is accompanied by a $150,000 US dollar prize.[3] The award was expanded in 2017 to include regional winners for Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Europe.[8]

In 2018, the award was described as the "other Nobel" prize by NPR.[9]

List of annual laureates

edit
List of annual laureates
Year Image Laureate Country Office held, or rationale[a] Ref.
1954   Eleanor Roosevelt   USA as "the first chair of the UN Human Rights Commission" [10]
1955   Queen Juliana   Netherlands as Queen of Netherlands [11]
1956 Dorothy D. Houghton   USA as "president of the Federation of Women's Clubs, delegate to the Geneva conferences of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration and director of the Office of Refugees Migration and Voluntary Assistance" [12]
  Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart   Netherlands United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1951 to 1956); awarded posthumously [10]
1957 The League of Red Cross Societies    Switzerland for its work on behalf of the Hungarian refugees [13]
1958 David Hoggett   United Kingdom for work with Hungarian refugees in Austria [14]
  Pierre Jacobsen   France Deputy Director of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration; awarded posthumously [10]
1959 Oskar Helmer   Austria outstanding work on behalf of refuges...was Austrian Minister of the Interior in 1956 when 180,000 Hungarians took refuge in Austria [15]
1960   Christopher Chataway, Colin Jones, Trevor Philpott, Timothy Raison   United Kingdom For their roles in creating World Refugee Year, raising £9 million [16]
1961   King Olav V   Norway King of Norway [10]
1962 Tasman Heyes   Australia a tribute not only to an able and far-sighted friend of refugees, but also to the generosity of his countrymen [17]
1963 The International Council for Voluntary Agencies    Switzerland for support to refugees in Africa [10][18]
1964 May Curwen   United Kingdom her "whole life had been devoted to the service of those in need" [19]
Francois Preziosi & Jean Plicque   France For their refugee-support work in eastern Congo; awarded posthumously [20]
1965 Lucie Chevalley   France for "exceptional service she has rendered to the cause of refugees in France and in a number of other European countries during the past forty-five years" [21]
Ana Rosa Schlieper de Martínez Guerrero   Argentina for being "associated with many charitable societies and institutions and was a staunch supporter of human rights"; awarded posthumously [21]
Jørgen Nørredam   Denmark for "dedicated service to refugees in Europe, North, Central and East Africa for many years"; awarded posthumously [21]
1967   Prince Bernhard   Netherlands [10]
1968 Bernard Arcens   Senegal [10]
Charles H. Jordan   USA awarded posthumously [10]
1969 Princess Princep Shah     Nepal [10]
1971 Louise Holborn   USA [10]
1972 Swana Friðriksdóttir   Iceland [10]
1974 Helmut Frenz   Germany [10]
1975 James J. Norris   USA [10]
1976   Olav Hodne   Norway [10]
Marie-Louise Bertschinger    Switzerland awarded posthumously [10]
1977   The Malaysian Red Crescent Society   Malaysia MRC efforts in aiding thousands of refugees who arrived in Malaysia as a result of the conflict in Indo-China [10]
1978 Seretse Khama   Botswana [10]
1979   Valéry Giscard d'Estaing   France [10]
1980 Maryluz Schloeter Paredes   Venezuela [10]
1981 Paul Cullen   Australia [10]
1982   Crown Princess Sonja   Norway [10]
1983   Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere   Tanzania [10]
1984 Lewis M. Hiller, Jeff Kass, and Gregg Turay   USA [10]
1985   Paulo Evaristo Arns   Brazil [10]
1986   The People of Canada (accepted by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé)   Canada [10]
1987   Juan Carlos I   Spain [10]
1988 Syed Munir Husain   Pakistan [10]
1991   Libertina Appolus Amathila   Namibia [10]
Paul Weis   Austria awarded posthumously [10]
1992   Richard von Weizsäcker   Germany [10]
1993   Médecins Sans Frontières    Switzerland [10]
1995   Graça Machel   Mozambique [10]
1996   Handicap International   France [10]
1997 Joannes Klas   USA [10]
1998   Mustafa Dzhemilev   Ukraine [10]
2000 Jelena Silajdžić   Bosnia and Herzegovina [10]
  Abune Paulos   Ethiopia [10]
  Lao Mong Hay   Cambodia [10]
  Miguel Angel Estrella   Argentina [10]
  United Nations volunteers   United Nations [10]
2001   Luciano Pavarotti   Italy [10]
2002   Arne Rinnan and the crew of the MV Tampa   Norway [10]
2003 Annalena Tonelli   Italy [10]
2004 Memorial Human Rights Centre   Russia [10]
2005   Marguerite Barankitse   Burundi [10]
2006 Akio Kanai   Japan [10]
2007 Katrine Camilleri   Malta [10]
2008 Chris Clark & United Nations Mine Action Service   United Kingdom [10]
2009   Edward Kennedy   USA [10]
2010 Alixandra Fazzina   United Kingdom [10]
2011 Society for Humanitarian Solidarity   Yemen [10]
2012   Hawa Aden Mohamed   Somalia [22]
2013   Angélique Namaika   Democratic Republic of the Congo [23]
2014 Butterflies with New Wings Building a Future   Colombia [24]
2015   Aqeela Asifi   Afghanistan [25]
2016   Efi Latsoudi & Konstantinos Mitragas   Greece [26]
2017 Zannah Mustapha   Nigeria [27]
2018 Evan Atar Adaha   South Sudan [28][29]
2019   Azizbek Ashurov   Kyrgyzstan [30]
2020 Mayerlín Vergara Pérez   Colombia [31]
2021 Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development   Yemen [32]
2022   Angela Merkel   Germany [33]
2024 Rosita Milesi

Lists of regional laureates

edit
List of regional laureates
Year Region Image Laureate Rationale Country Ref.
2017 Africa CIYOTA   Uganda [34]
2017 Asia Bernard Wirth   Thailand [34]
2017 Americas Friar Tomas   Mexico [34]
2017 Europe Hej Främling!   Sweden [34]
2017 Middle East Ihsan Ezedeen   Syria [35]
2018 Asia   Tuenjai Deetes   Thailand [36]
2018 Americas Samira Harnish   USA [37]
2018 Europe Andreas Hollstein and the town of Altena   Germany [38]
2018 Middle East Reclaim Childhood   Jordan [39]
2019 Africa Evariste Mfaume   Democratic Republic of the Congo [40]
2019 Asia Alberto Cairo   Afghanistan [41]
2019 Americas Bianka Rodriguez   El Salvador [40]
2019 Europe Humanitarian Corridors   Italy [42]
2019 Middle East Abeer Khreisha   Jordan [40]
2020 Africa Sabuni Francoise Chikunda   Democratic Republic of the Congo [43]
2020 Asia Rozma Ghafouri   Afghanistan [44]
2020 Europe Tetiana Barantsova   Ukraine [43]
2020 Middle East   Rana Dajani   Jordan [43]
2021 Africa Roukiatou Maiga   Burkina Faso [45]
Diambendi Madiega
2021 Asia Saleema Rehman   Afghanistan [45]
2021 Americas Santiago Ávila   Honduras [45]
2021 Europe Nikola Kovačević   Serbia [45]
2022 Africa Ahmedou Ag Albohary   Mauritania [46]
2022 Asia Naw Bway Khu   Myanmar [46]
2022 Americas Vicenta González   Nicaragua [46]
2022 Middle East Nagham Hasan   Iraq [46]

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Official rationale for the award are not always provided by UNHCR. In such circumstances, this column broadly outlines the relevant work of the recipient.

References

edit
  1. ^ Nansen Refugee Award, UNHCR
  2. ^ a b Bador, Geneviève; Delarue, Olivier (1 April 2003). "The Nansen Refugee Award". Refugee Survey Quarterly. 22 (1): 48–51. doi:10.1093/rsq/22.1.48.
  3. ^ a b "Germany's Angela Merkel to receive UN prize". South China Morning Post. 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  4. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "About the Award". UNHCR. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  5. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Our Winners". UNHCR. Retrieved 2017-12-18.
  6. ^ "UNHCR - Frequently Asked Questions". unhcr.org. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
  7. ^ "The UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award 2021" (PDF). unhcr.org. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
  8. ^ "Past Laureates". UNHCR. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  9. ^ Cole, Diane (2018-10-17). "'Other Nobel' Goes To Amazingly Humble Surgeon In South Sudan". NPR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay "List of winners, 1954–2012" (PDF). UNHCR (in Spanish).
  11. ^ "Queen Juliana Awarded Nansen Refugee Medal". The New York Times. 14 May 1955. ProQuest 113439270.
  12. ^ "NANSEN MEDAL AWARDED; Honor for Aid to Refugees Is Won by Mrs. D.D. Houghton". The New York Times. 4 August 1956. ProQuest 113766448.
  13. ^ "Nansen Medal to Red Cross". The New York Times. 1 June 1957. ProQuest 114234768.
  14. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Nansen Medal Award Ceremony: Presentation Speech by Dr. Auguste R. Lindt, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, on the occasion of the award of the Nansen Medal for 1958 to Mr. David Hoggett". UNHCR. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  15. ^ "Austrian Receives Refugee Medal". The New York Times. 14 October 1959. ProQuest 114886714.
  16. ^ "Sir Christopher Chataway - obituary". The Telegraph. 19 January 2014. ProQuest 1490419459.
  17. ^ "Australian Is Honored For Help to Refugees". The New York Times. 10 October 1962. ProQuest 116234069.
  18. ^ "Additif au Rapport du Haut Commissaire des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés, 1963". UNHCR (in French). Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  19. ^ "British Woman Gets Nansen Medal". The New York Times. 21 October 1964. ProQuest 115912768.
  20. ^ Edwards, Adrian (19 August 2013). "UNHCR pays tribute to staff killed in the line of duty, marking World Humanitarian Day 2013" (Press release). UNHCR. ProQuest 1426180704.
  21. ^ a b c "Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees". UNHCR. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  22. ^ Schlein, Lisa (18 September 2012). "Somali Humanitarian Wins Prestigious Nansen Refugee Award". Voice of America. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Congolese nun named winner of prestigious Nansen Refugee Award". UNHCR. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Nansen Refugee Award: Butterflies take wing to help others". unhcr.org. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  25. ^ "Aqeela Asifi: A life of teaching Afghan refugee girls". BBC. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  26. ^ "The Hellenic Rescue Team". www.hrt.org.gr. 6 September 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2016.
  27. ^ "Visionary Nigerian teacher wins UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award". unhcr.org. 18 September 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  28. ^ "South Sudanese surgeon wins 2018 Nansen Refugee Award". UNHCR. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  29. ^ "South Sudanese doctor wins prestigious UN prize for lifetime spent tending to refugees". abc.net.au. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 September 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  30. ^ "'Tenacious' Kyrgyz lawyer and statelessness champion, wins prestigious UNHCR prize". UN News. October 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  31. ^ Barber, Harriet (1 October 2020). "Woman who provides a safe haven for child trafficking victims is honoured by the UN". The Telegraph.
  32. ^ "Yemeni humanitarian organization wins Nansen Refugee Award". UN News. 29 September 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  33. ^ "Angela Merkel awarded top UN refugee prize, for aid to Syrians fleeing war". UN News. 4 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  34. ^ a b c d Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "2017 Winner". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  35. ^ "Syrian doctor devotes his life to serve displaced, refugees and vulnerable". UNHCR Syria. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  36. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Rights campaigner fights for Thailand's stateless peoples". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  37. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Samira Harnish, Americas region finalist for the 2018 Nansen Refugee Award". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  38. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "German mayor sets example of how to welcome refugees". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  39. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Nansen Award finalist gives girls in Jordan a sporting chance". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  40. ^ a b c Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "UNHCR names Nansen Refugee Award regional winners". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  41. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "UNHCR names Nansen Refugee Award regional winners". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  42. ^ "2019 Nansen Refugee Award for Europe goes to Humanitarian Corridors - Vatican News". www.vaticannews.va. 2019-09-18. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  43. ^ a b c Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "UNHCR names Nansen Refugee Award regional winners". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  44. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "UNHCR names Nansen Refugee Award regional winners". UNHCR. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  45. ^ a b c d "Meet the Nansen Award winners who stayed and delivered in 2020". www.unrefugees.org. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  46. ^ a b c d "Merkel says Nansen prize honours all those who welcome refugees". 11 October 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
edit