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List of Nansen Refugee Award recipients facts for kids

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Not to be confused with Fram Committee Nansen Award.
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Nansen Refugee Award
Nansen refugee award.jpg
Logo
Presented by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Location Geneva
Reward US$150,000
First awarded 1954

The Nansen Refugee Award is a medal issued annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, displaced, or stateless people. The award was established by UNHCR the organizations first High Commissioner, Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart 1954 as a tribute to Fridtjof Nansen. Fridtjof Nansen was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, explorer, and League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the award was established in honour of his work to support refugees. Van Heuven Goedhart felt that creating an award would increase the world's attention to the needs of refugees and increase global refugee aid.

The inaugural awardee was Eleanor Roosevelt in 1954. Every year, the prize is presented at a ceremony in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, in Geneva. The medal is accompanied by a $150,000 US dollar prize. The award was expanded in 2017 to include regional winners for Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Europe.

In 2018, the award was described as the "other Nobel" prize by NPR.

List of annual laureates

List of annual laureates
Year Image Laureate Country Office held, or rationale Ref.
1954 Black and white image of Eleanor Roosevelt smiling Eleanor Roosevelt  USA as "the first chair of the UN Human Rights Commission"
1955 Black and white image portret Koningin Juliana Queen Juliana  Netherlands as Queen of Netherlands
1956 Dorothy D. Houghton  USA as "president of the Federation of Women's Clubs, delegate to the Geneva conferences of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration and director of the Office of Refugees Migration and Voluntary Assistance"
van Heuven Goedhart wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, dark tie Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart  Netherlands United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1951 to 1956); awarded posthumously
1957 The League of Red Cross Societies  Switzerland for its work on behalf of the Hungarian refugees
1958 David Hoggett  United Kingdom for work with Hungarian refugees in Austria
Jacobsen portrait in which he is looking at the camera emotionless, his hair is slicked back to one side Pierre Jacobsen  France Deputy Director of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration; awarded posthumously
1959 Oskar Helmer  Austria outstanding work on behalf of refuges...was Austrian Minister of the Interior in 1956 when 180,000 Hungarians took refuge in Austria
1960 Chataway candidly smiling, wearing a pin-striped jacket, white shirt, dark tie. He is clean shaven and hair styled in side parting Christopher Chataway, Colin Jones, Trevor Philpott, Timothy Raison  United Kingdom For their roles in creating World Refugee Year, raising £9 million
1961 King Olav dressed in military regalia, looking to the side with a row of medals pinned to his jacket, adorned with a sash and epaulettes King Olav V  Norway King of Norway
1962 Tasman Heyes  Australia a tribute not only to an able and far-sighted friend of refugees, but also to the generosity of his countrymen
1963 The International Council for Voluntary Agencies  Switzerland for support to refugees in Africa
1964 May Curwen  United Kingdom her "whole life had been devoted to the service of those in need"
Francois Preziosi & Jean Plicque  France For their refugee-support work in eastern Congo; awarded posthumously
1965 Lucie Chevalley  France 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"
Ana Rosa Schlieper de Martínez Guerrero  Argentina for being "associated with many charitable societies and institutions and was a staunch supporter of human rights"; awarded posthumously
Jørgen Nørredam  Denmark for "dedicated service to refugees in Europe, North, Central and East Africa for many years"; awarded posthumously
1967 Prince Bernhard is wearing a dark jacket, with a carnation on it, a red tie, grey/brown shirt. He has a slight smile and is wearing spectacles. Prince Bernhard  Netherlands
1968 Bernard Arcens  Senegal
Charles H. Jordan  USA awarded posthumously
1969 Princess Princep Shah    Nepal
1971 Louise Holborn  USA
1972 Swana Friðriksdóttir  Iceland
1974 Helmut Frenz  Germany
1975 James J. Norris  USA
1976 Hodne Olav.JPG Olav Hodne  Norway
Marie-Louise Bertschinger  Switzerland awarded posthumously
1977 The Malaysian Red Crescent Society logo, incorporating a red crescent on a white background The Malaysian Red Crescent Society  Malaysia MRC efforts in aiding thousands of refugees who arrived in Malaysia as a result of the conflict in Indo-China
1978 Seretse Khama  Botswana
1979 A candid head shot of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing who is looking neutral, wearing a dark jacket, dark tie and a white formal shirt with darker vertical stripes. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing  France
1980 Maryluz Schloeter Paredes  Venezuela
1981 Paul Cullen  Australia
1982 Crown Princess Sonja outdoors, dressed in dark blue, with a gold neckless. Crown Princess Sonja  Norway
1983 Candid shot of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere looking just past the camera, speaking, wearing a formal jacket. Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere  Tanzania
1984 Lewis M. Hiller, Jeff Kass, and Gregg Turay  USA
1985 Arms wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, dark tie and thick spectacles. Paulo Evaristo Arns  Brazil
1986 Governor General Jeanne Sauvé dressed formally in a dark jacket. The People of Canada (accepted by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé)  Canada
1987 King Carlos in a grey jacket, light blue shirt, yellow tie, standing indoors in front of the Spanish flag Juan Carlos I  Spain
1988 Syed Munir Husain  Pakistan
1991 Libertina Appolus Amathila in a red formal jacket, surrounded by people, looking up from a folded document. Libertina Appolus Amathila  Namibia
Paul Weis  Austria awarded posthumously
1992 Formal photograph of Richard von Weizsäcker wearing a jacket and tie with a black background. Richard von Weizsäcker  Germany
1993 The logo of Médecins Sans Frontières, red stripes approximately appearing like a person. Médecins Sans Frontières  Switzerland
1995 Graça Machel dressed formally in a black jacket, wearing a pearl neckless, speaking on a podium. Graça Machel  Mozambique
1996 Handicap International's modern logo, with the words of the new name humanity & inclusion, the logo is a blue hand symbol with the word "Hi" in it. Handicap International  France
1997 Joannes Klas  USA
1998 Mustafa Dzhemilev dressed in a dark jacket, white shirt and blue tie, listening to a translation headset. Mustafa Dzhemilev  Ukraine
2000 Jelena Silajdžić  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abune Paulos dressed in religious ceremonial garb including mitre that is red with an abundance of gold. He is holding a staff and golden processional cross. Abune Paulos  Ethiopia
Mong Hay standing in a street. He is bald with a long white bear and wearing a collared, short sleeved shirt with a pen and smart phone in the pocket. Lao Mong Hay  Cambodia
Miguel Angel Estrella candidly wearing a huge grin. Miguel Angel Estrella  Argentina
The United Nations Volunteers very simple logo United Nations volunteers  United Nations
2001 Pavarotti in a black bowtie, a white brimmed hat, a colourful scarf and a big smile. Luciano Pavarotti  Italy
2002 The MV Tampa vessel, a large container-cargo ship with a red hull in a harbour. Arne Rinnan and the crew of the MV Tampa  Norway
2003 Annalena Tonelli  Italy
2004 Memorial Human Rights Centre  Russia
2005 Marguerite Barankitse in a colourful skirt and headdress, and a red jacket. She is speaking on a stage as part of a panel discussion. Marguerite Barankitse  Burundi
2006 Akio Kanai  Japan
2007 Katrine Camilleri  Malta
2008 Chris Clark & United Nations Mine Action Service  United Kingdom
2009 Kennedy in a dark jacket and white short and dark tie looking at the photographer neutrally. Edward Kennedy  USA
2010 Alixandra Fazzina  United Kingdom
2011 Society for Humanitarian Solidarity  Yemen
2012 Mohamed wearing a dark hijab and spectacles Hawa Aden Mohamed  Somalia
2013 Angélique Namaika smiling in a village, wearing a green shirt and brown headdress. Angélique Namaika  Democratic Republic of the Congo
2014 Butterflies with New Wings Building a Future  Colombia
2015 Aqeela Asifi wearing a black head scarf and speaking on stage at a United Nation's event Aqeela Asifi  Afghanistan
2016 The Hellenic Rescue Team crest, a black eagle in front of a red cross, over white mountains. Efi Latsoudi & Konstantinos Mitragas  Greece
2017 Zannah Mustapha  Nigeria
2018 Evan Atar Adaha  South Sudan
2019 Azizbek Ashurov in 2022 Azizbek Ashurov  Kyrgyzstan
2020 Mayerlín Vergara Pérez  Colombia
2021 Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development  Yemen
2022 Formal portrait of Angela Merkel looking neutral in a red jacket with gold simple neckless Angela Merkel  Germany
2023
2024 Rosita Milesi  Brazil

Lists of regional laureates

List of regional laureates
Year Region Image Laureate Rationale Country Ref.
2017 Africa CIYOTA  Uganda
2017 Asia Bernard Wirth  Thailand
2017 Americas Friar Tomas  Mexico
2017 Europe Hej Främling!  Sweden
2017 Middle East Ihsan Ezedeen  Syria
2018 Asia Tuenjai Deetes shaking hands with a woman at an event, smiling, wearing a pink jacket and scarf. Tuenjai Deetes  Thailand
2018 Americas Samira Harnish  USA
2018 Europe Andreas Hollstein and the town of Altena  Germany
2018 Middle East Reclaim Childhood  Jordan
2019 Africa Evariste Mfaume  Democratic Republic of the Congo
2019 Asia Alberto Cairo  Afghanistan
2019 Americas Bianka Rodriguez  El Salvador
2019 Europe Humanitarian Corridors  Italy
2019 Middle East Abeer Khreisha  Jordan
2020 Africa Sabuni Francoise Chikunda  Democratic Republic of the Congo
2020 Asia Rozma Ghafouri  Afghanistan
2020 Europe Tetiana Barantsova  Ukraine
2020 Middle East Rana Dajani smiling in a pink hijab in a meeting room. Rana Dajani  Jordan
2021 Africa Roukiatou Maiga  Burkina Faso
Diambendi Madiega
2021 Asia Saleema Rehman  Afghanistan
2021 Americas Santiago Ávila  Honduras
2021 Europe Nikola Kovačević  Serbia
2022 Africa Ahmedou Ag Albohary  Mauritania
2022 Asia Naw Bway Khu  Myanmar
2022 Americas Vicenta González  Nicaragua
2022 Middle East Nagham Hasan  Iraq

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Premio Nansen para niños

  • Nansen International Office for Refugees
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