United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights
The
United Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights were instituted by a
General Assembly resolution in 1966.
They are intended to "honour and commend people and organisations which have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the
human rights embodied in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in other
United Nations human rights instruments".
They were first awarded in 1968, and they have been given out at five-year intervals since then.
The award ceremony traditionally takes place on 10 December, which the UN has designated Human Rights Day.
The recipients are selected by a special committee comprising the presidents of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and the chairs of the Commission on Human Rights, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.
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 the Nobel prizes, the UN awards are nonmonetary in nature.
2003 Awardees
1998 Awardees
- Sunila Abeyesekera, executive director of INFORM (Sri Lanka)
- Angelina Acheng Atyam, founder of Concerned Parents Association (Uganda)
- Jimmy Carter, statesman and former president (USA)
- José Gregori, secretary of state for human rights (Brazil)
- Anna Sabatova, founder of Charter 77 (Czech Republic)
- All human rights defenders, "thousands of courageous individuals worldwide"
1993 Awardees
- Hassib Ben Ammar, president of the Arab Institute for Human Rights (Tunisia)
- Erica-Irene Daes, chair of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations (Greece)
- James Grant, executive director of UNICEF (USA)
- International Commission of Jurists (based in Geneva)
- Medical personnel of the Central Hospital of Sarajevo
- Sonia Picado Sotela, vice-president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Costa Rica)
- Ganesh Man Singh, supreme leader of the Nepali Congress (Nepal)
- Sudanese Women's Union (Sudan)
- Julio Tumiri Javier, founder of the Permanent Assembly of Human Rights in Bolivia (Bolivia)
1988 Awardees
1978 Awardees
1973 Awardees
1968 Awardees