The Nansen Refugee Award is a medal issued annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group or organisation in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, displaced or stateless people. The award was established by UNHCR the organisation's first High Commissioner, Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, in 1954 as a tribute to Fridtjof Nansen. Fridtjof Nansen was a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, explorer and League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Van Heuven Goedhart felt that creating an award would increase the world's attention to the needs of refugees and increase global refugee aid. Every year, the prize is presented at a ceremony in the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, in Geneva. The medal is accompanied by a US$150,000 prize. The award was expanded in 2017 to include regional winners for Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East and Europe.
In 2018, the award was described as the "other Nobel" prize by NPR.
List of annual laureates
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+
|-
! scope="col" |Year
! scope="col" |Image
! scope="col" |Laureate
! scope="col" style="width: 90" |Country
!Office held, or rationale
! scope="col" |Ref.
|-
|1954
|frameless|164x164px|alt=Black and white image of Eleanor Roosevelt smiling
|Eleanor Roosevelt
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|as "the first chair of the UN Human Rights Commission"
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|-
|1955
|frameless|164x164px|alt=Black and white image portret Koningin Juliana
|Queen Juliana
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|as Queen of Netherlands
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|-
| rowspan="2" |1956
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|Dorothy D. Houghton
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|as "president of the Federation of Women's Clubs, delegate to the Geneva conferences of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration and director of the Office of Refugees Migration and Voluntary Assistance"
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|-
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" | frameless|186x186px|alt=van Heuven Goedhart wearing a dark jacket, white shirt, dark tie
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" | Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart
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|United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1951 to 1956); awarded posthumously
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|-
| rowspan="2" |1958
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|David Hoggett
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|for work with Hungarian refugees in Austria
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|-
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" | frameless|135x135px|alt=Jacobsen portrait in which he is looking at the camera emotionless, his hair is slicked back to one side
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" | Pierre Jacobsen
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|Deputy Director of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration; awarded posthumously
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|-
|1960
|frameless|162x162px|alt=Chataway candidly smiling, wearing a pin-striped jacket, white shirt, dark tie. He is clean shaven and hair styled in side parting
|Christopher Chataway, Colin Jones, Trevor Philpott, Timothy Raison
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|For their roles in creating World Refugee Year, raising £9 million
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|-
|1961
|frameless|165x165px|alt=King Olav dressed in military regalia, looking to the side with a row of medals pinned to his jacket, adorned with a sash and epaulettes
|King Olav V
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|King of Norway
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|-
|1963
|
|The International Council for Voluntary Agencies
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|for support to refugees in Africa
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|-
| rowspan="2" |1964
|
|May Curwen
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|her "whole life had been devoted to the service of those in need"
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|-
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" |
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" | Francois Preziosi & Jean Plicque
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|For their refugee-support work in eastern Congo; awarded posthumously
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|-
| rowspan="3" |1965
|
|Lucie Chevalley
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|for "exceptional service she has rendered to the cause of refugees in France and in a number of other European countries during the past forty-five years"
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|-
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" |
| style="background:#ECF2CE;" | Ana Rosa Schlieper de Martínez Guerrero
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|for being "associated with many charitable societies and institutions and was a staunch supporter of human rights"; awarded posthumously
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|-
|2013
|frameless|191x191px|alt=Angélique Namaika smiling in a village, wearing a green shirt and brown headdress.
|Angélique Namaika
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|-
|2014
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|Butterflies with New Wings Building a Future
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|-
|2015
|frameless|155x155px|alt=Aqeela Asifi wearing a black head scarf and speaking on stage at a United Nation's event
|Aqeela Asifi
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|-
|2016
|frameless|135x135px|alt=The Hellenic Rescue Team crest, a black eagle in front of a red cross, over white mountains.
|Efi Latsoudi & Konstantinos Mitragas
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|2017
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|Zannah Mustapha
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|-
|2018
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|Evan Atar Adaha
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|2019
|frameless|135x135px|alt=Azizbek Ashurov in 2022
|Azizbek Ashurov
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|-
|2020
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|Mayerlín Vergara Pérez
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|-
|2021
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|Jeel Albena Association for Humanitarian Development
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|2022
|frameless|203x203px|alt=Formal portrait of Angela Merkel looking neutral in a red jacket with gold simple necklace
|Angela Merkel
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|-
|2023
||
|Abdullahi Mire
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|For his work to expand educational opportunities for young refugees
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|-
|2024
|140 px|alt=portrait of Rosita Milesi
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|2025
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|Martin Azia Sodea
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|}
Lists of regional laureates
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|-
!Year
!Region
!Image
!Laureate
!Rationale
!Country
!Ref.
|-
|2017
|Africa
|
|CIYOTA
|
|
|
|-
|2017
|Asia
|
|Bernard Wirth
|
|
|
|-
|2018
|Asia
|frameless|178x178px|alt=Tuenjai Deetes shaking hands with a woman at an event, smiling, wearing a pink jacket and scarf.
|Tuenjai Deetes
|
|
|
|-
|2018
|Americas
|
|Samira Harnish
|
|
|
|-
|2018
|Europe
|
| and the town of Altena
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|
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|-
|2018
|Middle East
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|Reclaim Childhood
|
|
|
|-
|2019
|Africa
|
|Evariste Mfaume
|
|
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|-
|2019
|Asia
|
|Alberto Cairo
|
|
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|-
|2019
|Americas
|
|Bianka Rodriguez
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|
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|-
|2019
|Middle East
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|Abeer Khreisha
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|
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|-
|2020
|Asia
|
|Rozma Ghafouri
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|
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|-
|2020
|Europe
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|Tetiana Barantsova
|
|
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|-
|
|Diambendi Madiega
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|-
|2021
|Asia
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|Saleema Rehman
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|
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|-
|2022
|Asia
|
|Naw Bway Khu
|
|
|
|-
|2023
|Asia-Pacific
|
|Abdullah Habib, Shahida Win, Sahat Zia, and Salim Khan
|
|
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|-
|2023
|Europe
|thumb|208x208px
|Lena Grochowska and
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|
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|-
|2023
|Middle East & North Africa
|
|Asia Al-Mashreqi
|
|
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|-
|2024
|Africa
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|
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|-
|2024
|Asia-Pacific
|
|Deepti Gurung
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