The Stefanus Prize is a human rights prize awarded to individuals for their outstanding contributions to defending freedom of religion or belief as defined by the Article 18 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

History

The Stefanus Prize was established in 2005 by the Norwegian NGO

Stefanus Alliance International Stefanus Alliance International (SAI) is a Norwegian mission- and human rights organization, dedicated to defending freedom of belief and religion as expressed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The organization is based in ...

, and has been awarded biennially since 2008. The award ceremony takes place in November in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The first recipient of the Stefanus Prize was the

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

Bishop Thomas of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. He received the award on November 11, 2005 for his "fearless and courageous commitment to freedom of belief and human rights in Egypt."

Selection Committee

The laureates are chosen by a committee appointed by the

. The committee was composed of following members in 2020: Ingvill Thorson Plesner (researcher at HL-senteret), Erling Rimehaug (editor and writer), Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim (politician]), and Ingunn Yri Øystese (board member of the

Recipients of the Stefanus Prize

* 2005: Bishop Thomas, Egypt * 2008: Tim A. Peters, Korea/China * 2010: Victor Biak Lian, Burma/Myanmar * 2012: Samuel L. S. Salifu, Nigeria * 2014: Asma Jilani Jahangir, Pakistan * 2016: Mine Yildirim and

Aykan Erdemir Aykan Erdemir (born July 28, 1974, in Bursa) is an anthropologist, policy analyst, and former Turkish politician. He served in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey between 2011 and 2015 as a representative from the pro-secular Republican People' ...

, Turkey * 2018: Ameer Jaje and Saad Salloum, Iraq * 2020: Nguyen Bac Truyen, imprisoned Vietnamese lawyer * 2022
Wagma Feroz
Pakistan

References

{{reflist

External links

Stefanus Alliance International, official web site
Human rights awards Norwegian awards Freedom of religion