The annual Front Line Defenders Award was established in 2005 to
honour the work of HRDs who are courageously making outstanding
contributions to the promotion and protection of the human rights of
others, often at great personal risk to themselves. The Award focuses
international attention on the HRDs work, providing them with a greater
national and international platform to speak about and advocate for
their work.
From an open nomination process, 5 HRDs will be identified as
regional award winners for Africa, the Americas, Asia, ECA and the MENA
and from these 5 regional winners, an overall global Award laureate will
be identified by a jury of Irish and European parliamentarians.
The annual Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at
Risk was established in 2005 to honour the work of a human rights
defender who, through non-violent work, is courageously making an
outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human
rights of others, often at great personal risk to themselves.
In 2014 the Al-Jazeera Media Network became the global media partner
for the Front Line Defenders Award, giving much wider coverage of the
ceremony and of the defender's work to a global audience.
The Award seeks to focus international attention on the human rights
defender's work, thus contributing to the recipient’s personal security.
Selection Criteria:
- the nature of human rights defender's work
- the impact of human rights defender's work in advancing the rights of others
- the level of risk or negative consequences associated with human rights defender's work
- the continued commitment to advancing human rights, despite high level risks
- the potential impact of receiving the Award on the human rights defender and their work
Nomination Guidelines:
- Incomplete nominations will not be considered.
- Nominations can be submitted by organisations or individuals.
- Individual nominees may not play a prominent role in a political party.
- Individual nominees must be currently active in human rights work (the Front Line Defenders Award is not intended to recognise a historical or posthumous contribution).
- Individual nominees should not have previously been the recipient of high-profile international recognition.
- Nominees should be active human rights defenders and must not be living in exile.
- Self-nomination is not permitted.
- All nominations must be accompanied by the names and contact details of 2 referees.
