Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is an annual international humanitarian award recognizing individuals for humanitarian work. It is awarded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian genocide.^[1]

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity
Awarded for	Courage, commitment to a humanitarian cause and impact on the world
Country	Armenia
Presented by	Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
First awarded	2016 (2016)
No. of laureates	7 laureates and 20 organizations as of 2022^[update]
Website	auroraprize.com/en

The Aurora Prize ceremonies have taken place annually in Armenia since April 24, 2016. The laureate of the prize receives $1,000,000.

History

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative was founded by Noubar Afeyan, Vartan Gregorian, and Ruben Vardanyan. Tom Catena is inaugural chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.^[2]

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is one of the projects of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.^[3] It was officially announced at 100 LIVES launch event in New York on March 10, 2015. The creation of the Aurora Prize was inspired by many stories of the rescue of Armenians during the Armenian genocide.

The prize is named after Aurora Mardiganian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide and the author of the book Ravished Armenia.^[4]

The Aurora Humanitarian Index is an international opinion poll that measures attitudes about humanitarian issues and the impact of humanitarian intervention.^[5]

The inaugural 2016 Aurora Dialogues were held on April 23, 2016, in Matenadaran, Yerevan. Participants included Hina Jilani, Shirin Ebadi and Gareth Evans.^[6][7][8][9] 2017 Aurora Dialogues took place on May 27–28 in Armenia and on December 4–5 in Berlin, Germany.^{[10][11][12][13]} In 2018, Aurora Dialogues were held in New York (in March^[14] and September^[15]), Moscow,^[16] Yerevan^[17] and Berlin.^[18] 2019 Aurora Dialogues^[19] took place in Armenia on October 17–21, 2019, during the inaugural Aurora Forum.^[20][21] Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Aurora Dialogues were online in 2020.^[22] Some of the Aurora Dialogues events were online in 2021.

Aurora Prize

Nominations are solicited from humanitarian organizations and the public.^[23] The members of the Expert Panel^[24] assess all eligible nominations according to the Aurora Prize selection criteria to narrow the overall list to 20-25 nominees for the Selection Committee's attention. This panel is composed of humanitarian professionals and leaders of humanitarian organizations. The selection of finalists and the Aurora Prize laureate is made by the independent Aurora Prize Selection Committee.^[25]

2016 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee Inaugural Selection Committee of the prize included the late Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, as well as Óscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi and Leymah Gbowee, former president of Ireland Mary Robinson, human rights activist Hina Jilani, former Australian foreign minister and president emeritus of the International Crisis Group Gareth Evans, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan Gregorian, activist John Prendergast and Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian George Clooney.^[26]

Finalists

• Dr. Tom Catena^[27]
• Marguerite Barankitse
• Syeda Ghulam Fatima
• Father Bernard Kinvi^[28]

Ceremony The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity inaugural ceremony was held on April 24, 2016, in Yerevan at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex.^[29]

The ceremony was hosted by an Armenian opera diva Hasmik Papian and American journalist and novelist David Ignatius. The ceremony was opened by an animated film directed by Eric Nazarian featuring Serj Tankian's"Aurora's Dream" as the soundtrack.^[30] Each of the finalists was introduced with a documentary mini-film directed by Andrey Loshak.^[31]

The live music during the ceremony was performed by State Youth Orchestra of Armenia conducted by Sergey Smbatyan. The fanfares of the ceremony was composed by Stepan Shakaryan. The statuette, created by Manvel Matevosyan was presented with an excerpt from Two Suns, a ballet by the Ballet2021 Foundation dance troupe (choreographer Rudolf Kharatyan), accompanied by Avet Terteryan's and Arno Babajanyan's music. The State Youth Orchestra of Armenia performed an excerpt from Aram Khachaturyan's Symphony No. 2 (Bell Symphony). The co-hostess, soprano Hasmik Papian performed Barsegh Kanachyan's "Lullaby". The ceremony was concluded with the song "Pour toi, Arménie" (For you, Armenia) performed by Gevorg Hakobyan and the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia.^[30]

Laureate The inaugural Aurora Prize was awarded to Marguerite Barankitse from Burundi.^[32]

Barankitse chose Fondation Jean-Francois Peterbroeck, Foundation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse, Bridderlech Deelen to receive $1 million awards as part of the prize package.^[33]

The statuette of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was created by Manvel Matevosyan and is called Towards Eternity.^[34]

2017 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The members of Selection Committee of 2017 Aurora Prize are George Clooney (co-chair), Vartan Gregorian, Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Gareth Evans, Leymah Gbowee, Hina Jilani, Mary Robinson and Ernesto Zedillo.^[35][36]

Finalists The nominations for 2017 Aurora Prize were opened on June 1 and the finalists were:

• Ms. Fartuun Adan and Ms. Ilwad Elman
• Ms. Jamila Afghani
• Dr. Tom Catena
• Mr. Muhammad Darwish
• Dr. Denis Mukwege^{[37][38][39][40]}

Laureate The 2017 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Tom Catena.^[41]

2018 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee The members of Selection Committee of 2018 Aurora Prize are George Clooney (co-chair), Vartan Gregorian, Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Gareth Evans, Leymah Gbowee, Hina Jilani, Mary Robinson, Ernesto Zedillo, Lord Ara Darzi,^[42] Bernard Kouchner^[43] and Samantha Power.^[44]

Finalists

• Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung (1941-2021)^[45]
• Fr. Héctor Tomás González Castillo^[46]
• Mrs. Sunitha Krishnan^[47]

Laureate The 2018 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung.^[48]

2019 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2019 Aurora Prize are Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani, Gareth Evans, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Samantha Power, John Prendergast, Valery Gergiev, Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (chair), Benjamin Ferencz (honorary co-chair) and George Clooney (honorary co-chair).

Finalists

• Mr. Mirza Dinnayi^{[citation needed]}
• Mr. Zannah Mustapha^[49]
• Ms. Huda Al-Sarari^[50]

Laureate The 2019 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Mr. Mirza Dinnayi.^[51]

2020 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2020 Aurora Prize are Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Samantha Power, Paul Polman, John Prendergast, Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (chair), Benjamin Ferencz (honorary co-chair) and George Clooney (honorary co-chair).

Finalists

• Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman^[52]
• Angélique Namaika
• Sophie Beau and Klaus Vogel
• Sakena Yacoobi^[53]

Laureate The 2020 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman.

2021 Aurora Prize

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2020 Aurora Prize are Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Dele Olojede, John Prendergast, Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (chair), Benjamin Ferencz (honorary co-chair) and George Clooney (honorary co-chair).

Finalists

• Grégoire Ahongbonon^[54]
• Ruby Alba Castaño^[55]
• Paul Farmer^[56]
• Julienne Lusenge^[57]
• Ashwaq Moharram^[58]

Laureate

The sixth annual Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Julienne Lusenge, a human rights defender, co-founder of Women's Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI) and Fund for Congolese Women (FFC), who has been helping the victims of wartime sexual violence for years.

2022 Aurora Prize

Finalists

• Jamila Afghani^[59]
• Hadi Jumaan^[60]
• Mahienour El-Massry^[61]

Laureate

The seventh annual Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Jamila Afghani, an educator, human rights defender, and founder of the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO). Jamila has dedicated over 25 years of her life to giving the women of Afghanistan access to education.

References

1. "George Clooney, The Aurora Prize And Hope In Armenia". Forbes. April 29, 2016.
2. Burger, John (December 11, 2018). "American doctor who runs remote hospital in Sudan now chairs worldwide humanitarian initiative". Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
3. "Beneficiaries of $1 Million Aurora Prize Announced". Armenian Weekly. August 25, 2016.
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5. "World Refugee Day: Please don't make it just another day". USA Today. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
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8. "Humanitarian issues in the center of attention of the world: Aurora dialogues". A1+. April 23, 2016.
9. Hairenik (April 18, 2016). "Humanitarian Leaders to Gather in Armenia for Aurora Prize Ceremony". Armenian Weekly. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
10. Mirak-Weissbach, Muriel (December 14, 2017). "Armenians Hold Aurora Dialogues in Berlin". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
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26. "Aurora Prize Selection Committee Meets to Deliberate on Finalists". Asbarez. March 14, 2016.
27. "The 100 Most Influential People". Time.
28. "A Look at the Four Finalists of the 2016 Aurora Prize". The Huffington Post. May 5, 2016.
29. "Aurora Prize Ceremony Kicks Off". Armenpress. April 24, 2016.
30. "Inaugural Aurora Prize Held In Yerevan". Asbarez. April 25, 2016.
31. "Good can triumph – Andrey Loshak". A1+. July 15, 2016.
32. "Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity 2006 programme" (PDF). Retrieved March 2, 2019.
33. "Beneficiaries of $ 1 mln award from Aurora Prize confirmed". Mediamax. August 19, 2016.
34. "Aurora Prize winner received statuette created by sculptor Manvel Matevosyan". A1+. April 25, 2016.
35. . Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
36. "Nominations for the 2017 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity Now Closed". Hetq. September 9, 2016.
37. Aurora Prize. 2017 finalists.
38. AUA Newsroom. June 1, 2017. AUA Co-hosts Conversation with the 2017 Aurora Prize Finalists.
39. UK Fundraising. 2017 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity awarded to Dr Tom Catena. May 31, 2017.
40. "Garowe Online". Retrieved January 18, 2018.
41. "Dr. Tom Catena on being named the 2017 Aurora Prize Laureate". AuroraPrize.com.
42. Seed, Jo (September 6, 2017). "Lord Ara Darzi joins Aurora Prize Selection Committee". Imperial College London.
43. "Bernard Kouchner Joins the Aurora Prize Selection Committee". mediamax.am. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
44. "Samantha Power joins Aurora Prize selection committee". news.am. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
45. "Three humanitarian activists nominated for $1.1 million Aurora Prize". news.am. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
46. "2018 Aurora Prize nominees announced". Public Radio of Armenia. April 24, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
47. "Sunitha Krishnan named for humanitarian award". deccanchronicle.com/. April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
48. May, Melanie (June 12, 2018). "Rohingya humanitarian & activist Kyaw Hla Aung awarded 2018 Aurora Prize". UK Fundraising. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
49. "2019 Aurora Prize nominees announced". Oman News. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
50. "Equal Rights Trust Celebrates Yemeni human rights defender Huda Al-Sarari's recognition as an Aurora Humanitarian". Equal Rights Trust. May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
51. "2019 Aurora Prize Ceremony to take place in Armenia". Aurora Prize. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
52. "Aurora Initiative Announces Humanitarian Candidates on April 24". The Armenian Mirror-Spectator. April 30, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
53. "2020 Aurora Humanitarians Announced". Armenian Weekly. April 25, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
54. "Gregoire Ahongbonon: Freeing people chained for being ill". BBC News. February 17, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
55. "Ruby Alba Castaño". Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
56. "A Million Dollar Prize For A Doc Who Believes In 'Accompaniment'". NPR. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
57. "Julienne Lusenge (Democratic Republic of the Congo) | Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs". eca.state.gov. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
58. "One woman's lonely struggle against famine in Yemen". BBC News. September 21, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
59. "Escaping the Taliban". The Tällberg Foundation. September 30, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
60. "The Observers - A volunteer recovers fallen fighters in Yemen, teachers protest in Mayotte, and migrants fight to stay in Belarus". France 24. December 13, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
61. "Mahienour El-Masry released on bail". Front Line Defenders. July 22, 2021. Retrieved April 26, 2022.

External links

Official website

• IDeA (Initiatives for Development of Armenia) charitable foundation
• #AraratChallenge
• Maison Shalom | Burundi