TheUnited Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights were instituted byUnited Nations General Assembly[1] in 1966. They are intended to "honour and commend people and organizations which have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of thehuman rights embodied in theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights and in otherUnited Nationshuman rights instruments".
The UN first awarded the prize to six recipients at a ceremony on 10 December 1968 – the 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the UN has designatedHuman Rights Day. They have been given out at five-year intervals since then, with the exception of 1983, to individuals, groups and organizations.[2] As of December 2018[update], 64 awards have been presented, including nine awards presented posthumously (four to recipients who had been murdered while pursuing human rights for others).
The recipients are selected by a committee composed of the presidents of the UN General Assembly, theUN Economic and Social Council and theUN Human Rights Council (which replaced theUN Commission on Human Rights in 2006), and the chairs of theUN Commission on the Status of Women and of the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council (which replaced the UNSub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 2006).[3] Since 1998, the awards are announced by the Office of theUN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which was created a few days after the 1993 ceremony.[4]
The physical token of the award is a metal plaque bearing the UN seal and an artistic design, and engraved with an appropriate citation. In contrast to theNobel prizes – whose list of prizewinners of theNobel Peace Prize shares much common ground with the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rights – the UN's awards are non-monetary in nature.
FIRST AWARD: December 1968 – 20th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[2]
SECOND AWARD: December 1973 – 25th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[2]
THIRD AWARD: December 1978 – 30th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[2]
FOURTH AWARD: December 1988 – 40th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[2]
FIFTH AWARD: December 1993 – 45th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[2]
SIXTH AWARD: December 1998 – 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[2]
SEVENTH AWARD: December 2003 – 55th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[2]
EIGHTH AWARD: December 2008 – 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[5]
NINTH AWARD: December 2013 – 65th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[3][6]
TENTH AWARD: December 2018 – 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:[7][8]
ELEVENTH AWARD: December 2023:[9]
The 2013 laureates were selected by a committee comprising...
