The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has issued a call for nominations for the Nansen Refugee Award given to an individual or an organization in recognition of extraordinary and dedicated service to refugees.
This Award is the most prestigious honour conferred by UNHCR. It consists of a commemorative medal and a US$100,000 monetary prize donated by the governments of Norway and Switzerland.
Anybody can nominate someone or some organization for the Nansen Award, but a special committee selects the annual winner. Recipients have been chosen from many different areas. Whatever their creed, colour, age or profession, every winner put in extraordinary effort and time to help the forcibly displaced around the world.
The monetary prize that accompanies the Nansen Award is intended to enable the recipient to pursue refugee assistance projects drawn up in consultation with UNHCR. To date, so-called Nansen Fund projects have benefitted refugees in places such as Cambodia, Botswana and Venezuela.
They have contributed towards the setting up of a special ward for refugee children in Pakistan, the building of schools at Katumba in Tanzania and income-generation projects for people displaced by landmines in southern Lebanon.
More than 60 individuals, groups or organizations have won the Nansen Refugee Award since Eleanor Roosevelt became the first winner in 1954. Photojournalist Alixandra Fazzina was named the 2010 winner for her powerful documenting of the lives of those displaced by conflict.
The last date to submit nominations is 28 February 2011. For more information, visit this link.
