The North-South Prize has been awarded every year since 1995 to two candidates who have stood out for their exceptional commitment to promoting North-South solidarity.
The candidates, preferably a man and a woman, must have distinguished themselves in the following areas: protection of human rights, defense of pluralist democracy, public awareness raising on issues of global interdependence and solidarity, and strengthening the North-South partnership.
Guidelines for the Juryof the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe
1 Every year since 1995 the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe has been awarded to two personalities who have excelled in their commitment to the defence and promotion of human rights and pluralistic democracy, the development of intercultural dialogue and the reinforcement of the north-south partnership and solidarity.
2 A call for nominations is issued at the beginning of the year with a deadline of at least three weeks before the date of the Jury‘s meeting. The call is published on the North-South Centre‘s website and encourages stakeholders and NSC partners to relay the information in their own communication networks.
3. Any legal or natural person may submit one or more nominations. The following are particularly encouraged to take advantage of this possibility:
-Member States and other North-South Centre stakeholders -International organisations with which the Council of Europe has signed Cooperation Agreements -Non-members of the North-South Centre involved in a cooperation relationship with it and partners in the centre‘s activities -Former winners of the North-South Prize.
3 The prize is awarded to one candidate from the north and one from the south (preferably a man and a woman). Candidates must have distinguished themselves in one of the following fields: defence and promotion of human rights and pluralistic democracy, the development of intercultural dialogue, raising public awareness of the issues of global interdependence and solidarity, or reinforcement of the north-south partnership.
4 The Jury of the North-South Prize consists of members of the Bureau of the North-South Centre and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. It is presided over by the Chair of the North-South Centre‘s Executive Council and assisted in its work by the Secretariat of the North-South Centre. If they are not Bureau members, the Chair of the Committee of Representatives of the member States and the Representative of the North-South Centre‘s host country sit on the Jury in an advisory capacity.
5 Nominations are examined on their merits on the basis of motivation letters, accompanying documents and additional information gathered by the Secretariat. Particular attention is paid to nominations submitted by the people or bodies mentioned in paragraph 3.
6 Before the Jury meeting, each of its members makes an independent short list of a maximum of 10 candidates (5 from the north and 5 from the south, taking into account the importance of balanced representation of the sexes). The Jury deliberates on the basis of a table of the individual short lists prepared by the Secretariat. As far as possible, the Jury decides by consensus. If there is none, the decision can be made by a double majority of 2/3 of the votes cast by at least half of the Jury members.
7 The Jury‘s deliberations are confidential. The decision is announced on a restricted basis to Member States and other North-South Centre stakeholders. It is made public after the Secretariat has ascertained that the winners accept the prize.
1 The North-South Prize is awarded on a personal basis.
2 The North-South Prize cannot be awarded posthumously.
3 The North-South Prize is presented to the winners at an official ceremony in Lisbon at the beginning of the following year attended (on the part of the host country) by the President of the Republic, the Speaker of Parliament and a member of government and (on the part of the Council of Europe) the Secretary General, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly and the Chair of the Executive Committee of the North-South Centre.
4 The ceremony is followed by a press conference giving the winners the opportunity to confirm their commitment to continuing their work, with the North-South Centre and former winners, in order to achieve the ideals enshrined by the North-South Prize.
Send your suggestions to: nsc_prize@coe.int.
Moreinfo: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/NS_Prize_en.asp
