On 17th July 2020, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, The President of United Nations General Assembly announced that Marianna Vardinoyannis, of Greece, and Doctor Morissana Kouyaté, of Guinea will receive the 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize. They will be recognised in the virtual ceremony on 20th July 2020.
Note:
The award will be presented to them in an in-person award ceremony at a later date at the United Nations(UN) headquarters, New York, United States of America.
Nelson Mandela Prize:
i.The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) established the award in June 2014 which will be awarded every 5 years, to honour Nelson Mandela’s life and legacy of political and social transformation.
ii.The award is presented to recognise the achievements of the individuals who contribution and dedicate their lives to serve the humanity by promoting the principle of United Nations.
iii.The selection committee of the Award is chaired by the president of the UNGA.
iv.The nominations for the award are made by the member states of the UN, intergovernmental organisations and NGOs.
Marianna Vardinoyannis:
i.Ms. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis is the founder and president of “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation” and “ELPIDA Friends’ Association of Children with cancer”, foundations dedicated to children welfare.
ii.She has been the Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO since 1999.
iii.ELPIDA was instrumental in the establishment of the first bone marrow transplant unit, Greece in 1999 and the country’s first oncology hospital for children in 2010.
iv.She supports the medical programmes for refugee children through her foundations.
v.Her foundations support programmes for human right education and fights against human trafficking.
Dr. Morissana Kouyaté:
i.Dr. Kouyaté, the executive director of the Inter-African Committee(IAC) on Harmful Traditional Practices is working to end the female genital mutilation (FGM) and violence against women in Africa.
ii.He created the IAC in 1984 at Dakar, Senega, which works to educate and change the attitude towards the practice of FGM and ensure the human rights of the women and children of Africa.
About UNGA:
President– Tijjani Muhammad-Bande
President Elect– Volkan Bozkir
Headquarters– New York, United States of America
