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".
The UN first awarded the prize to six recipients at a ceremony on 10 December 1968the 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the UN has designated Human Rights Day. They have been given out at five-year intervals since then, with the exception of 1983, to individuals, groups and organizations. , 64 awards have been presented, including nine awards presented posthumously (four to recipients who had been murdered while pursuing human rights for others).
The recipients are selected by a committee composed of the presidents of the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council and the UN Human Rights Council (which replaced the UN Commission on Human Rights in 2006), and the chairs of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and of the Advisory Committee of the UN Human Rights Council (which replaced the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in 2006). Since 1998, the awards are announced by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which was created a few days after the 1993 ceremony.
The physical token of the award is a metal plaque bearing the UN seal and an artistic design, and engraved with an appropriate citation. In contrast to the Nobel prizeswhose list of prizewinners of the Nobel Peace Prize shares much common ground with the UN Prize in the Field of Human Rightsthe UN's awards are non-monetary in nature.
1968 Prizewinners
FIRST AWARD: December 1968 – 20th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
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- Louise Arbour, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Canada)
- Benazir Bhutto (posthumously), assassinated former prime minister and leader of the opposition (Pakistan)
- Ramsey Clark, former Attorney General (United States)
- Dr. Carolyn Gomes of Jamaicans for Justice
- Dr. Denis Mukwege, co-founder of the General Referral Hospital of Panzi (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
- Sr. Dorothy Stang (posthumously), murdered Roman Catholic nun (Brazil)
- Human Rights Watch
2013 Prizewinners
NINTH AWARD: December 2013 – 65th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- Biram Dah Abeid, son of a freed slave who works to eradicate slavery (Mauritania)
- Hiljmnijeta Apuk, a campaigner for the rights of people of short stature (Kosovo)
- Liisa Kauppinen, President Emeritus of the World Federation of the Deaf (Finland)
- Khadija Ryadi, former President of the Morocco Association for Human Rights (Morocco)
- Supreme Court of Justice (Mexico)
- Malala Yousafzai, schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for attending school (Pakistan)
2018 Prizewinners
TENTH AWARD: December 2018 – 70th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
- Asma Jahangir (posthumously), human rights lawyer (Pakistan)
- Rebeca Gyumi, activist for the rights of women and girls (Tanzania)
- Joenia Wapichana, activist for the rights of indigenous communities (Brazil)
- Front Line Defenders, organization advocating and working for the protection of human rights defenders (Ireland)
2023 Prizewinners
ELEVENTH AWARD: December 2023:
- Viasna Human Rights Centre, Belarus
- Julienne Lusenge, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, Jordan
- Julio Pereyra Sánchez, Uruguay
- Global Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, Indigenous Peoples, Social Movements, and Local Communities for the Universal Recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment