| Nansen Refugee Award | |
|---|---|
Logo | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding service to the cause of refugees |
| Location | Geneva |
| Presented by | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
| Reward | US$150,000 |
| First award | 1954 |
| Website | www |
The top of the Nansen Medal reads: "Nestekjærlighet erRealpolitik" (English: Altruism is Practical Politics) | |
TheNansen Refugee Award is a medal issued annually by theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group or organisation in recognition of outstanding service to the cause ofrefugees,displaced orstateless people.[1] The award was established by UNHCR the organisation's first High Commissioner,Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, in 1954 as a tribute toFridtjof Nansen.[2]Fridtjof Nansen was aNobel Peace Prize laureate, explorer andLeague of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees[3] and the award was established in honour of his work to support refugees.[4] Van Heuven Goedhart felt that creating an award would increase the world's attention to the needs of refugees and increase global refugee aid.[2]
The inaugural awardee wasEleanor Roosevelt in 1954.[5] Every year, the prize is presented at a ceremony in theBâtiment des Forces Motrices, inGeneva.[6][7] The medal is accompanied by a US$150,000 prize.[3] The award was expanded in 2017 to include regional winners for Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East and Europe.[8]
In 2018, the award was described as the "other Nobel" prize byNPR.[9]
| Year | Image | Laureate | Country | Office held, or rationale[a] | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Eleanor Roosevelt | as "the first chair of the UN Human Rights Commission" | [10] | ||
| 1955 | Queen Juliana | as Queen of Netherlands | [11] | ||
| 1956 | Dorothy D. Houghton | as "president of the Federation of Women's Clubs, delegate to theGeneva conferences of theIntergovernmental Committee for European Migration and director of the Office of Refugees Migration and Voluntary Assistance" | [12] | ||
| Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1951 to 1956); awarded posthumously | [10] | |||
| 1957 | TheLeague of Red Cross Societies | for its work on behalf of the Hungarian refugees | [13] | ||
| 1958 | David Hoggett | for work with Hungarian refugees in Austria | [14] | ||
| Pierre Jacobsen | Deputy Director of theIntergovernmental Committee for European Migration; awarded posthumously | [10] | |||
| 1959 | Oskar Helmer | outstanding work on behalf of refuges...was AustrianMinister of the Interior in 1956 when 180,000 Hungarians took refuge in Austria | [15] | ||
| 1960 | Christopher Chataway, Colin Jones,Trevor Philpott,Timothy Raison | For their roles in creatingWorld Refugee Year, raising £9 million | [16] | ||
| 1961 | King Olav V | King of Norway | [10] | ||
| 1962 | Tasman Heyes | a tribute not only to an able and far-sighted friend of refugees, but also to the generosity of his countrymen | [17] | ||
| 1963 | TheInternational Council for Voluntary Agencies | for support to refugees in Africa | [10][18] | ||
| 1964 | May Curwen | her "whole life had been devoted to the service of those in need" | [19] | ||
| Francois Preziosi &Jean Plicque | For their refugee-support work in eastern Congo; awarded posthumously | [20] | |||
| 1965 | Lucie Chevalley | for "exceptional service she has rendered to the cause of refugees in France and in a number of other European countries during the past forty-five years" | [21] | ||
| Ana Rosa Schlieper de Martínez Guerrero | for being "associated with many charitable societies and institutions and was a staunch supporter of human rights"; awarded posthumously | [21] | |||
| Jørgen Nørredam | for "dedicated service to refugees in Europe, North, Central and East Africa for many years"; awarded posthumously | [21] | |||
| 1967 | Prince Bernhard | [10] | |||
| 1968 | Bernard Arcens | [10] | |||
| Charles H. Jordan | awarded posthumously | [10] | |||
| 1969 | Princess Princep Shah | [10] | |||
| 1971 | Louise Holborn | [10] | |||
| 1972 | Swana Friðriksdóttir | [10] | |||
| 1974 | Helmut Frenz | [10] | |||
| 1975 | James J. Norris | [10] | |||
| 1976 | Olav Hodne | [10] | |||
| Marie-Louise Bertschinger | awarded posthumously | [10] | |||
| 1977 | TheMalaysian Red Crescent Society | MRC efforts in aiding thousands of refugees who arrived in Malaysia as a result of the conflict in Indo-China | [10] | ||
| 1978 | ![]() | Seretse Khama | [10] | ||
| 1979 | Valéry Giscard d'Estaing | [10] | |||
| 1980 | Maryluz Schloeter Paredes | [10] | |||
| 1981 | Paul Cullen | [10] | |||
| 1982 | Crown Princess Sonja | [10] | |||
| 1983 | Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere | [10] | |||
| 1984 | Lewis M. Hiller, Jeff Kass, and Gregg Turay | [10] | |||
| 1985 | Paulo Evaristo Arns | [10] | |||
| 1986 | ThePeople of Canada (accepted byGovernor GeneralJeanne Sauvé) | [10] | |||
| 1987 | Juan Carlos I | [10] | |||
| 1988 | Syed Munir Husain | [10] | |||
| 1991 | Libertina Appolus Amathila | [10] | |||
| Paul Weis | awarded posthumously | [10] | |||
| 1992 | Richard von Weizsäcker | [10] | |||
| 1993 | Médecins Sans Frontières | [10] | |||
| 1995 | Graça Machel | [10] | |||
| 1996 | Handicap International | [10] | |||
| 1997 | Joannes Klas | [10] | |||
| 1998 | Mustafa Dzhemilev | [10] | |||
| 2000 | Jelena Silajdžić | [10] | |||
| Abune Paulos | [10] | ||||
| Lao Mong Hay | [10] | ||||
| Miguel Angel Estrella | [10] | ||||
| United Nations volunteers | [10] | ||||
| 2001 | Luciano Pavarotti | [10] | |||
| 2002 | Arne Rinnan and the crew of theMV Tampa | [10] | |||
| 2003 | Annalena Tonelli | [10] | |||
| 2004 | Memorial Human Rights Centre | [10] | |||
| 2005 | Marguerite Barankitse | [10] | |||
| 2006 | Akio Kanai | [10] | |||
| 2007 | Katrine Camilleri | [10] | |||
| 2008 | Chris Clark &United Nations Mine Action Service | [10] | |||
| 2009 | Edward Kennedy | [10] | |||
| 2010 | Alixandra Fazzina | [10] | |||
| 2011 | Society for Humanitarian Solidarity | [10] | |||
| 2012 | Hawa Aden Mohamed | [22] | |||
| 2013 | Angélique Namaika | [23] | |||
| 2014 | Butterflies with New Wings Building a Future | [24] | |||
| 2015 | Aqeela Asifi | [25] | |||
| 2016 | Efi Latsoudi &Konstantinos Mitragas | [26] | |||
| 2017 | Zannah Mustapha | [27] | |||
| 2018 | Evan Atar Adaha | [28][29] | |||
| 2019 | Azizbek Ashurov | [30] | |||
| 2020 | Mayerlín Vergara Pérez | [31] | |||
| 2021 | Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development | [32] | |||
| 2022 | Angela Merkel | [33] | |||
| 2023 | Abdullahi Mire | For his work to expand educational opportunities for young refugees | [34] | ||
| 2024 | Rosita Milesi | [35] |
| Year | Region | Image | Laureate | Rationale | Country | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Africa | CIYOTA | [36] | |||
| 2017 | Asia | Bernard Wirth | [36] | |||
| 2017 | Americas | Friar Tomas | [36] | |||
| 2017 | Europe | Hej Främling! | [36] | |||
| 2017 | Middle East | Ihsan Ezedeen | [37] | |||
| 2018 | Asia | Tuenjai Deetes | [38] | |||
| 2018 | Americas | Samira Harnish | [39] | |||
| 2018 | Europe | Andreas Hollstein and the town ofAltena | [40] | |||
| 2018 | Middle East | Reclaim Childhood | [41] | |||
| 2019 | Africa | Evariste Mfaume | [42] | |||
| 2019 | Asia | Alberto Cairo | [43] | |||
| 2019 | Americas | Bianka Rodriguez | [42] | |||
| 2019 | Europe | Humanitarian Corridors | [44] | |||
| 2019 | Middle East | Abeer Khreisha | [42] | |||
| 2020 | Africa | Sabuni Francoise Chikunda | [45] | |||
| 2020 | Asia | Rozma Ghafouri | [46] | |||
| 2020 | Europe | Tetiana Barantsova | [45] | |||
| 2020 | Middle East | Rana Dajani | [45] | |||
| 2021 | Africa | Roukiatou Maiga | [47] | |||
| Diambendi Madiega | ||||||
| 2021 | Asia | Saleema Rehman | [47] | |||
| 2021 | Americas | Santiago Ávila | [47] | |||
| 2021 | Europe | Nikola Kovačević | [47] | |||
| 2022 | Africa | Ahmedou Ag Albohary | [48] | |||
| 2022 | Asia | Naw Bway Khu | [48] | |||
| 2022 | Americas | Vicenta González | [48] | |||
| 2022 | Middle East | Nagham Hasan | [48] | |||
| 2023 | Americas | Elizabeth Moreno Barco | [49] | |||
| 2023 | Asia-Pacific | Abdullah Habib,Shahida Win,Sahat Zia, andSalim Khan | [50] | |||
| 2023 | Europe | Lena Grochowska and Władysław Grochowski | [51] | |||
| 2023 | Middle East & North Africa | Asia Al-Mashreqi | [52] | |||
| 2024 | Africa | Maimouna Ba | [53] | |||
| 2024 | Asia-Pacific | Deepti Gurung | [53] | |||
| 2024 | Europe | Jin Davod | [53] | |||
| 2024 | Middle East & North Africa | Nada Fadol | [53] |