Julienne Lusenge, one of the 2023 UN Human Rights Prize winners, speaking at the General Assembly high-level dialogue on “Building Sustainable Peace for All” earlier this year. UN Photo/Manuel Elías

On 20 July 2023 the President of the General Assembly Csaba Kőrösi announced the winners of the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2023. 

For more on this prize which is awarded every five see: https://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/74A3B502-F3DF-4DDB-8D6F-672C03B4A008

This year’s winners were the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, based in Belarus, Julienne Lusenge from the Democratic Republic of the Congo [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2021/10/11/congolese-julienne-lusenge-wins-1-million-2021-aurora-prize/], Amman Center for Human Rights Studies from Jordan, Julio Pereyra from Uruguay and the Global Coalition of civil society organizations, Indigenous Peoples, social movements and local communities.

The recipients of the Prize were chosen by a Special Committee from more than 400 nominations received from Member States, the UN system, and civil society. 

The Committee is chaired by the President of the General Assembly, and its members include the President of the Economic and Social Council, the President of the Human Rights Council, the Chair of the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council. 

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) provided support to the special committee.  The award ceremony for the 2023 Prize will take place at UN Headquarters in New York in December 2023, as part of activities to commemorate Human Rights Day. 

The members of the Special Committee also acknowledged the important role played by human rights defenders and activists, praising them for their courage and dedication while strongly condemning any attempts to “silence and intimidate” them.

They expressed solidarity with those who are detained in retaliation for their work in defending human rights and pursuing the implementation of all the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, marking it’s 75^th birthday this year.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/07/1138957

https://www.ohchr.org/en/about-us/what-we-do/un-human-rights-prize/2023-recipients

This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.