The Stefanus Prize is a human rights prize awarded to individuals for their outstanding contributions to defending freedom of religion or belief as defined by the Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [1]
The Stefanus Prize was established in 2005 by the Norwegian NGO Stefanus Alliance International, and has been awarded biennially since 2008. The award ceremony takes place in November in Oslo, Norway.
The first recipient of the Stefanus Prize was the Coptic Orthodox Bishop Thomas of Egypt. He received the award on November 11, 2005 for his "fearless and courageous commitment to freedom of belief and human rights in Egypt." [2]
The laureates are chosen by a committee appointed by the Stefanus Alliance International. The committee was composed of following members in 2020: Ingvill Thorson Plesner (researcher at HL-senteret), Erling Rimehaug (editor and writer), Anne Beathe Kristiansen Tvinnereim (politician]), and Ingunn Yri Øystese (board member of the Stefanus Alliance International). [3]
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) bestows its Freedom Award for extraordinary contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom. According to the IRC, "The Freedom Award reveals the remarkable ability of an individual to shape history and change for the better a world moving toward freedom for all."
The United Nations Prizes in the Field of Human Rights were instituted by United Nations General Assembly in 1966. They are intended to "honour and commend people and organizations 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".
Reporters Without Borders is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization focused on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as founded on the belief that everyone requires access to the news and information, in line with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that recognises the right to receive and share information regardless of frontiers, along with other international rights charters. RSF has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the Council of Europe, and the International Organisation of the Francophonie.
Asma Jilani Jahangir was a Pakistani human rights lawyer and social activist who co-founded and chaired the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and AGHS Legal Aid Cell. Jahangir was known for playing a prominent role in the Lawyers' Movement and served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief and as a trustee at the International Crisis Group.
The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights was established in 1986 in memory of Thorolf Rafto, a professor of economic history at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) and a human rights activist. The main objective of the Rafto Foundation is the promotion of freedom of political expression and enterprise. The work of the foundation consists of different educational and informative projects, including the annual award of the Rafto Prize (Raftoprisen) each November. The foundation is based in Bergen, Norway and run by a small team of professionals and volunteers.
The Professor Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize (Raftoprisen) is a human rights award established in the memory of the Norwegian human rights activist, Thorolf Rafto.
Humanists International is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Founded in Amsterdam in 1952, it is an umbrella organisation made up of more than 160 secular humanist, atheist, rationalist, agnostic, skeptic, freethought and Ethical Culture organisations from over 80 countries.
The Rev. Timothy A. Peters, an American humanitarian aid worker living in Seoul, South Korea, operates Helping Hands Korea and is widely regarded as one of the world's most visible advocates for human rights in North Korea.
Stefanus Alliance International (SAI) is a Norwegian mission- and human rights organization, dedicated to defending freedom of belief and religion as expressed in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The organization is based in Oslo, Norway. Its motto, designated in 1996, is: "Together for the persecuted."
The International Publishers Association is an international publishing industry federation of national publisher associations representing book and journal publishing, founded in 1896 in Paris. It is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing in the context of economic, cultural and political development. The IPA represents the interests of the publishing industry on an international level.
The Mae Tao Clinic (MTC), also known as Dr. Cynthia's clinic after its founder Dr. Cynthia Maung, is a community based organisation (CBO), which has been providing primary healthcare service and protection to community from Burma/Myanmar in Western Thailand since 1989. It is based in the border town of Mae Sot, approximately 500 km North West of Bangkok and serves a population of around 150,000 - 250,000 people who shelter in Burma's mountainous border region and, more recently, the growing Burmese migrant workers in Thailand who live in and around Mae Sot. Mae Tao Clinic has average 110,000 consultations annually. Of them 52% reside in Thailand, who are mostly undocumented and displaced due to armed conflicts or/and poverty and other 48% cross the border to seek health services.
The Freedom to Create Prize was established in 2008 to foster prosperity in the developing world by investing in the creative foundations of society. The Freedom to Create Prize was awarded from 2008 to 2011 to support and recognise artists who strive for social change in places where there is no "freedom to create".
The Human Rights Tulip is an annual prize awarded by the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs to a human rights defender or organisation who promotes and supports human rights in innovative ways. The Human Rights Tulip was established in 2007 and presented for the first time on 10 December 2008 and designed by the artist duo Adelheid and Huub Kortekaas.
Freedom Collection is a digital repository sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Southern Methodist University's campus in Dallas, Texas. The collection documents major players in human rights and freedom movements around the world during the 20th and 21st centuries through video interviews and documents. Contributors include former president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Syrian dissident and author Ammar Abdulhamid, former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic Václav Havel, Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, former president of Peru Alejandro Toledo, and Egyptian author Saad Eddin Ibrahim. At its launch on March 28, 2012, the collection consisted of 56 interviews. As of 2022, the Freedom Collection website was last updated in 2016 and its YouTube channel, where video interviews are available to watch, was last updated in October 2015. It is unclear if the project is still active.
Rasul Jafarov is a lawyer and prominent human rights defender in Azerbaijan.
University of Oslo's Human Rights Award honours individuals who have made important contributions in different fields. The award was launched in 1986 and since then, it is awarded every year to notable people from different walks of life. Those years when the award was not distributed are 1997, 1999, 2003, and 2004.
The International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB) is a network of parliamentarians from around the world committed to combating religious persecution and advancing freedom of religion or belief, as defined by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Mine Yıldırım is a scholar of human rights law and Turkey's leading expert on international protection of religious freedom. She is the founder of the Freedom of Belief Initiative, established in 2011 as the first permanent Turkish human rights organization specializing in freedom of religion or belief. Yildirim has also served as a consultant for Turkey's Education Reform Initiative on compulsory religious education in light of Turkey's human rights obligations. Her academic and policy work covers different facets of religious freedom, including conscientious objection to military service, accommodation of faith in workplaces, and restitution of religious minority properties.