Keystone-SDA
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October 9, 2024 – 09:00
(Keystone-ATS) A Brazilian nun, Rosita Milesi, is this year’s winner of the Nansen Prize. This lawyer and social activist has defended people forced to flee for nearly 40 years, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva said on Wednesday.
She has assisted thousands of migrants, refugees and other vulnerable people. She helped them access food, housing, healthcare, jobs and legal issues in Brazil.
Among her activities, the 79-year-old nun runs an NGO but she also manages a network of 60 organizations which work to bring together migrants and host communities in her country. She notably contributed to the recent Brazilian legislation of 2017 on refugees.
Regional activists
Among the regional awards, Burkinabè activist Maimanou Ba enabled more than 100 displaced children to regain an education. Hundreds of displaced women have been able to support themselves financially and her organization also fights against sexual violence.
For Asia/Pacific, the Nepalese Deepti Gurung succeeded in changing the law of her country, which provided that the mother cannot pass citizenship to her children, to prevent her two daughters from becoming stateless. Hundreds of people have been helped thanks to this new legislation.
Refugee in Türkiye, social entrepreneur Jin Davod is honored for the European continent. She launched a digital platform to ensure support for people affected by trauma among refugees and now also internally displaced people.
Conflict in Sudan
And in the Middle East, Sudanese refugee Nada Fadol helped hundreds of families who fled her country, faced with conflict for more than a year between the army and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), or other states at war. In total, the violence in Sudan has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Around 1.5 million people are at risk of starvation. Half the population needs humanitarian assistance. And more than 12 million people have fled their homes, most of them within the country.
“These five winners show the extent to which women play a very important role in the humanitarian response and in finding solutions,” says High Commissioner Filippo Grandi. The main prize is worth 100,000 dollars and the regional prizes are worth 25,000 dollars. These funds are then re-injected into the initiatives that have been awarded, UNHCR told Keystone-ATS.
