Šimon Pánek (born 27 December 1967) is the executive director of the Czech humanitarian organisation People in Need (Člověk v tísni), which he co-founded in 1992. He is also a former Czech student activist who was notable for his activities during the Czechoslovak

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

in 1989. Under Pánek's leadership, People in Need (PIN) has become the biggest non-governmental organisation in Central and Eastern Europe and works worldwide to mitigate people's suffering in times of crisis. PIN has become highly respected in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and abroad for its international and national efforts.European Development Days 2009 - PANEK Simon
/ref>

Life

In 1988, Šimon Pánek and Jaromír Štětina organised humanitarian assistance for

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, collecting various materials to help people affected by the earthquake. One year later, in 1989, Pánek became one of "student leaders" of the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, where he was involved in organising anti-regime strikes and became a co-chairman of the Central Students Strike Committee.‘We Are Not Like Them’ - Transitions Online
/ref> In 1992, he founded the news agency Epicentrum, which specialises in global conflict reporting. In 1992, Šimon Pánek co-founded ''Nadace Lidových novin'' (''The

Lidové noviny ''Lidové noviny'' (''People's News'', or ''The People's Newspaper'', ) is a daily newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily still in print, and a newspaper of record. It is a national news daily covering po ...

Foundation''), now known as People in Need (PIN). Pánek was also a foreign policy specialist on the

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

region and human rights issues abroad in the presidential administration of

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

. Since 2004, Pánek chaired the Czech NGO development platform FoRS. He received the ''Czech State Medal of Merit'' in 2002 and the ''European of the Year Award'' in 2003. Furthermore, Šimon Pánek chaired the Board of the Open Society Fund Prague, is a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations, of the Board of the European Partnership for Democracy and of the Board of Eurostep.

Publication

With Marek Benda and Monika Pajerová, ' (''students wrote a revolution''), Praha. Univerzum. 1990,

Honours

European of the Year in 2002 by the Reader's Digest magazineTIMEeurope Magazine , Heroes 2003 - Helping Hands
/ref>
President of Alliance 2015

References

External links

People in Need (English version)

Interview with One on One/ Radio Praha
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panek, Simon 1967 births Living people Czech democracy activists Czech human rights activists