Deadline: 6 January 2020
Nominations are now open for 2020 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.
The annual Front Line Defenders Award was established in 2005 to honour the work of HRDs who are courageously making outstanding contributions to the promotion and protection of the human rights of others, at great personal risk to themselves. The Award focuses national and international attention on the HRDs work, providing them with a greater national and international platform to speak about and advocate for their work.
A winner will be selected for each of the 5 world regions (Africa; Americas; Asia-Pacific; Europe & Central Asia; and Middle East & North Africa) to represent that region, and from those 5, one will be selected as the Global Laureate.
The nomination process is open for anyone to submit a nomination of a human rights defender, collective, organisation or community working on any human rights issue and facing significant risk due to their work or operating in an environment that itself is characterised as insecure. The purpose of the Award is to give visibility to HRDs who are not normally acknowledged or recognised at the international level. At the same time, the Award should not bring additional risk for which the HRD is not prepared. In addition to the Award, winners will receive:
- a modest financial prize;
- a security grant to improve their security measures;
- collaboration with Front Line Defenders for media work in recognition of the Award;
- advocacy by Front Line Defenders related to the Award and the work of the winners;
- an event co-organized by the HRD, local partners and Front Line Defenders to give visibility to the Award in the winners’ countries (as determined and guided by the winners);
- the Global Laureate will attend a ceremony in Dublin on May 15;
- all 5 winners will attend a ceremony and have opportunities and public presentations in the United States (exact programme to be determined);
- ongoing security consultation with Front Line Defenders
Selection Criteria
- the nature of human rights defender’s work
- the impact of human rights defender’s work in advancing the rights of others
- the level of risk or negative consequences associated with human rights defender’s work
- the continued commitment to advancing human rights, despite high level risks
- the potential impact of receiving the Award on the human rights defender and their work
Nomination Guidelines
- Incomplete nominations will not be considered.
- Nominations can be submitted by organisations or individuals.
- Individual nominees may not play a prominent role in a political party.
- Individual nominees must be currently active in human rights work (the Front Line Defenders Award is not intended to recognise a historical or posthumous contribution).
- Individual nominees should not have previously been the recipient of high-profile international recognition.
- Nominees should be active human rights defenders and must not be living in exile.
- Self-nomination is not permitted.
- The number of nominations a HRD or organisation receives is not considered when evaluating the nominees.
For more information, visit https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/call-nominations-2020-front-line-defenders-award-human-rights-defenders-risk