The Nansen Refugee Award is awarded annually by the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...

(UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

, displaced, or stateless people. The award was established in 1954 with

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

as the inaugural awardee. The award is named after

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

laureate, explorer, and

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

High Commissioner for Refugees,

Fridtjof Nansen Fridtjof Wedel-Jarlsberg Nansen (; 10 October 186113 May 1930) was a Norwegian polymath and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He gained prominence at various points in his life as an explorer, scientist, diplomat, and humanitarian. He led the team t ...

. Since 2017, there have been regional awards for Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Europe.

Background

Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09772, Fridjof Nansen (cropped)

The Nansen Refugee Award is named after the Norwegian polar explorer, statesman, and

laureate Fridtjof Nansen. As the first High Commissioner for Refugees at the League of Nations, Nansen's achievements made significant strides in giving a voice to the forcibly displaced. The award consists of the Nansen Medal and a $150,000 US dollar monetary prize in support of a project of the recipient's choice to assist displaced people, developed in consultation with UNHCR. The Swiss and Norwegian governments, the

Norwegian Refugee Council The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC, no, Flyktninghjelpen) is a humanitarian, non-governmental organisation that protects the rights of people affected by displacement. This includes refugees and internally displaced persons who are forced to flee ...

and the IKEA Foundation support the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award programme. In 2018, the award was described as the "other Nobel" prize by

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

Award ceremony

Every year, the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award is presented at a ceremony in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, Switzerland, the "world's humanitarian capital". Held at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, the ceremony coincides with the annual UNHCR Executive Committee meeting. In 2011, UNHCR collaborated with the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

, the Foundation Pour Genève, and the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights to organise the first Nansen panel discussion. Now an annual event, the discussion engages the Geneva intellectual community, media and youth about the refugee cause and the work of UNHCR. In 2012, the discussion entitled "Les femmes et la reconstruction de la Somalie: du trouble à l'espoir" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

: "Women and the Reconstruction of Somalia: From Turmoil to Hope") featuring

Leymah Gbowee Leymah Roberta Gbowee (born 1 February 1972) is a Liberian peace activist responsible for leading a women's nonviolent peace movement, Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Her ef ...

, the 2011

laureate, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council Elisabeth Rasmusson, and UNHCR Honorary Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador

Barbara Hendricks Barbara Hendricks (born November 20, 1948) is an American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland in Basel since 1985. She is a citizen of Sweden following her marriage to a Swedish c ...

as panelists.

Nomination process

The award is given to people, organisations and groups that have gone beyond the call of duty, who have demonstrated perseverance and courage, and who have personally, directly and significantly helped forcibly displaced people. Nominations are submitted through the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award website. Current or former UNHCR staff are not eligible. Self nominations, including intra-organizational nomination, are strongly discouraged.

List of annual laureates

Regional laureates

References

{{reflist

External links

*
List of winners 1954 to 2012
', UNHCR (Spanish)
Nansen Refugee Award
official website
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
official website
Pictures of the 2012 Nansen Refugee Award ceremony

Interview with “Mama” Hawa Aden Mohamed, 2012 Nansen Refugee Award
b
Global Education Magazine
in the special edition of

World Refugee Day World Refugee Day is an international day organised every year on 20 June by the United Nations. It is designed to celebrate and honour refugees from around the world. The day was first established on 20 June 2001, in recognition of the 50th anniv ...

. Awards established in 1954 Refugee award Humanitarian and service awards United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees United Nations awards