We are seeking nominations for the 2008 United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights, which is awarded to individuals or organizations once every five years for “outstanding achievements in the field of human rights.”
Previous winners include household names such as Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter as well as people who are extremely well known in their home regions or in human rights or humanitarian circles, such as the Egyptian writer Taha Hussein, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, former UN Secretary General U Thant, Anna Sabatova of the Czech Republic (a founding member of ‘Charter 77’) and the President of Argentina’s Association of Plaza de Mayo Grandmothers, Enriqueta Estela Barnes de Carlotta. Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King and Sergio Vieira de Mello were all awarded the prize posthumously.
Organizations that have won the prize include Amnesty International, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Mano River Women’s Peace Network in West Africa.
More details about the prize, as well as information about the procedure for nominating candidates, can be found on a special page on our website, www.ohchr.org.