The UN Refugee Agency
21 Sep 2020, 04:27 GMT+10
GENEVA - A refugee school teacher striving to empower rape survivors, a scientist and mother of four on a quest to make reading and learning accessible to refugee children, an activist fighting to protect the rights of displaced people with disabilities and an aspiring refugee footballer using her love for sport to get refugee children off the streets and into the classroom.
These four everyday heroes who go to extraordinary lengths to help those in great need have been selected as the regional winners of this year's Nansen Refugee Award. The winners, all of whom are women, were selected from across four continents for their humanitarianism and efforts to improve the lives of forcibly displaced people.
Each in her own way, has launched grassroots initiatives to change the lives of people within their communities including refugees and internally displaced people uprooted by conflict in South Sudan, East Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan.
Their service and dedication to the protection of forcibly displaced people reflects the essence and spirit of Fridtjof Nansen - the first High Commissioner for Refugees for whom the award is named. Nansen was a renowned scientist, polar explorer and statesman, and was know for his perseverance in the face of adversity. The annual humanitarian prize seeks to shed light on and honour heroes within our communities who go above and beyond the call of duty to help refugees, displaced or stateless people.
From hundreds of nominations, a winner is selected to represent each region in addition to honouring a single global laureate. Through this award, unsung heroes are celebrated for their extraordinary efforts to change and in many cases save the lives of forcibly displaced people.
This year's regional winners for Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East are:
Africa: Sabuni Francoise Chikunda, a refugee school teacher from the Democratic Republic of the Congo living in Uganda. She is the founder and chair of The Women's Centre helping victims and survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence. Asia: Rozma Ghafouri, an Afghan refugee living in Iran is the co-founder of the Youth Initiative Fund project, a community-based initiative which seeks to get refugee children in Iran off the streets and into education. Europe: Tetiana Barantsova, from Ukraine is a human rights activist and the co-founder of Luhansk oblast NGO "AMI-Skhid" (Association of Women, Youth, Families with Disabilities of Eastern Donbas), an NGO which advocates for change and protection of the rights of people with disabilities. Middle East: Dr. Rana Dajani, from Jordan, is a scientist and professor of molecular cell biology founded the We Love Reading project. The initiative aims to make books and reading accessible to children in every community including refugee camps.
The overall winner of the Nansen Refugee Award - who is not among those honoured today - will be revealed on 1 October. The prize will be presented in an online ceremony on 5 October.
Each regional winner will be honoured with a special Nansen certificate and events will be held to celebrate their extraordinary efforts in cooperation with the Swiss and Norwegian embassies in the countries where they work.
The Swiss and Norwegian Governments are UNHCR's partners in the Nansen Refugee Award project.
Get a daily dose of San Jose Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to San Jose Sun.
More Information(Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images) The Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles have been counted out for much of the past couple...
(Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images) Anthony Volpe scored the tiebreaking run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Aaron Judge...
(Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images) The Toronto Maple Leafs traded veteran forward Ryan Reaves to the San Jose Sharks in exchange...
(Photo credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images) Dallas Mavericks rookie and No. 1 NBA Draft pick Cooper Flagg contributed 10 points, six...
(Photo credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images) Ceddanne Rafaela's two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning highlighted a 2-for-3...
(Photo credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images) The Athletics demoted right-hander Mitch Spence to Triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, one...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak will return to Goldman Sachs in an advisory role, the Wall Street...
LONDON, U.K.: Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds recorded their most significant semi-annual inflow since the first half...
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Some 32 percent of global semiconductor production could face climate change-related copper supply disruptions...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rebounded Tuesday with all the major indices gaining ground. Markets in the UK, Europe and Canada...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: Financial markets kicked off the week on a cautious note as President Donald Trump rolled out a fresh round...
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: At a two-day summit over the weekend, the BRICS bloc of emerging economies issued a joint declaration condemning...