Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity

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The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity
Armenian symbol for eternity.
Awarded forCourage, commitment to a humanitarian cause and impact on the world
CountryArmenia
Presented byAurora Humanitarian Initiative
First awarded
  • 2016 (2016)
No. of laureates5 Laureates and 15 Organizations as of 2020
WebsiteAuroraPrize.com

Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is an annual international humanitarian award recognizing individuals for humanitarian work. It is awarded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian genocide.[1]

The Aurora Prize ceremonies take place annually in Armenia starting from April 24, 2016. The Laureate of the prize receives a $1,000,000 award they can use to support the organizations that help people in need.

History[]

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is one of the projects of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.[2] It was officially announced at 100 LIVES launch event in New York on March 10, 2015. The creation of the Aurora Prize was inspired by many stories of the rescue of Armenians during the Armenian Genocide.

The prize is named after Aurora Mardiganian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide and the author of the book Ravished Armenia.[3]

Gratitude in Action[]

Gratitude in Action is the concept that drives the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. The countless survivors around the world who owe their chance at life to the generosity of others can best acknowledge such benevolence by taking similar action. This is Gratitude in Action.[4]

Through Gratitude in Action, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Co-Founders wish to inspire all those who have received aid in time of crisis to express gratitude by offering similar assistance to someone else.[5]

Co-founders[]

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative was founded by Noubar Afeyan, Vartan Gregorian, and Ruben Vardanyan.

Aurora Co-Founder and member of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee Vartan Gregorian, an outstanding Armenian-American humanitarian, scholar, author, educator and mentor, passed away in April 2021.[6]

Chair[]

Tom Catena is inaugural Chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.[7]

Nomination and Selection Process[]

Nominations are solicited from humanitarian organizations and the public.[8] The members of the Expert Panel[9] assess all eligible nominations according to the Aurora Prize selection criteria to narrow the overall list to 20-25 nominees for the Selection Committee’s attention. This Panel is composed of humanitarian professionals and leaders of humanitarian organizations. The selection of finalists and the Aurora Prize Laureate is made by the independent Aurora Prize Selection Committee.[10]

The Ararat Challenge[]

The Ararat Challenge is a worldwide fundraising campaign launched by Aurora on July 19, 2019. It encourages people to record and post videos containing any image of Mount Ararat (a drawing, a painting, a sculpture, etc.) and a call to donate money to Aurora's projects that help people in need. The goal of the campaign is to increase the impact of those programs and raise awareness of Aurora's mission of Gratitude in Action. Anyone can join the challenge.[11]

Aurora for Artsakh[]

Through the Aurora for Artsakh program, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative helps the people of Artsakh facing a grave humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) war. Since the launch of the humanitarian aid program for Artsakh, Aurora has already allocated $1,740,000 to support 80 projects in Artsakh implemented by both local and international partners and to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Artsakh through the Hayastan All Armenian Fund.

Aurora Prize[]

2016 Aurora Prize[]

Selection Committee

Inaugural Selection Committee of the prize included the late Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, as well as Óscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi and Leymah Gbowee, former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, human rights activist Hina Jilani, former Australian Foreign Minister and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group Gareth Evans, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan Gregorian, activist John Prendergast and Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian George Clooney.[12]

Finalists
Ceremony

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity Inaugural Ceremony was held on April 24, 2016 in Yerevan at the Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex.[15]

The Ceremony was hosted by an Armenian opera diva Hasmik Papian and an American journalist and novelist David Ignatius. The Ceremony was opened by an animation film directed by Eric Nazarian featuring Serj Tankian's “Aurora’s Dream” as the soundtrack.[16] Each of the finalists has been introduced with a documentary mini-film directed by Andrey Loshak.[17]

The live music during the Ceremony was performed by State Youth Orchestra of Armenia conducted by Sergey Smbatyan. The Fanfares of the Ceremony was composed by Stepan Shakaryan. The Statuette, created by was presented with an excerpt from “Two Suns” ballet by “” dance troupe (choreographer Rudolf Kharatyan), accompanied by Avet Terteryan’s and Arno Babajanyan’s music. The State Youth Orchestra of Armenia performed an excerpt from Aram Khachaturyan’s Symphony No. 2 (Bell Symphony). The co-hostess, soprano Hasmik Papian performed Barsegh Kanachyan’s “Lullaby”. The Ceremony was concluded with the song “’’ (For you, Armenia) performed by and the State Youth Orchestra of Armenia.[16]

Laureate

The inaugural Aurora Prize was awarded to Marguerite Barankitse from Burundi.[18]

Barankitse chose Fondation Jean-Francois Peterbroeck, Foundation du Grand-Duc et de la Grande-Duchesse, Bridderlech Deelen to receive $1 million awards as part of the prize package.[19]

The Statuette of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was created by Manvel Matevosyan and is called Towards Eternity.[20]

2017 Aurora Prize[]

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2017 Aurora Prize are George Clooney (Co-Chair), Vartan Gregorian, Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Gareth Evans, Leymah Gbowee, Hina Jilani, Mary Robinson and Ernesto Zedillo.[21][22]

Finalists

The nominations for 2017 Aurora Prize were opened on June 1 and the finalists were:

Laureate

The 2017 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Dr. Tom Catena.[27]

2018 Aurora Prize[]

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2018 Aurora Prize are George Clooney (Co-Chair), Vartan Gregorian, Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Gareth Evans, Leymah Gbowee, Hina Jilani, Mary Robinson, Ernesto Zedillo, Lord Ara Darzi,[28] Bernard Kouchner[29] and Samantha Power.[30]

Finalists
Laureate

The 2018 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Mr. Kyaw Hla Aung.[34]

2019 Aurora Prize[]

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2019 Aurora Prize are Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani, Gareth Evans, Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Samantha Power, John Prendergast, Valery Gergiev, Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (Chair), Benjamin Ferencz (Honorary Co-Chair) and George Clooney (Honorary Co-Chair).

Finalists
Laureate

The 2019 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Mr. Mirza Dinnayi.[37]

2020 Aurora Prize[]

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2020 Aurora Prize are Oscar Arias (Honorary Member), Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani, Gareth Evans (Honorary Member), Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Samantha Power, Paul Polman, John Prendergast, Valery Gergiev (Honorary Member), Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (Chair), Benjamin Ferencz (Honorary Co-Chair) and George Clooney (Honorary Co-Chair).

Finalists

Laureate

The 2020 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded to Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman.

2021 Aurora Prize[]

Selection Committee

The members of Selection Committee of 2020 Aurora Prize are Oscar Arias (Honorary Member), Shirin Ebadi, Leymah Gbowee, Mary Robinson, Hina Jilani, Gareth Evans (Honorary Member), Ernesto Zedillo, Bernard Kouchner, Dele Olojede, John Prendergast, Valery Gergiev (Honorary Member), Vartan Gregorian, Lord Ara Darzi (Chair), Benjamin Ferencz (Honorary Co-Chair) and George Clooney (Honorary Co-Chair).

Finalists

Laureate

The sixth annual Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded today to Julienne Lusenge, a human rights defender, co-founder of Women's Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI) and Fund for Congolese Women (FFC), who has been helping the victims of wartime sexual violence for years.

Aurora Dialogues[]

2016 Aurora Dialogues[]

The inaugural 2016 Aurora Dialogues were held on April 23, 2016 in Matenadaran, Yerevan. Participants included Hina Jilani, Shirin Ebadi and Gareth Evans.[45][46][47][48]

2017 Aurora Dialogues[]

2017 Aurora Dialogues took place on May 27–28 in Armenia and on December 4–5 in Berlin, Germany.

On May 27–28, 2017 many distinguished guests have gathered in Armenia to attend a series of panel discussions and breakout sessions during which leading international humanitarians, academics and philanthropists tackled the problems of ensuring education for all, positioning the role of the media in raising the world's humanitarian issues, protecting human rights, creating role models, overcoming adversity and empowering refugees.[49]

Aurora Dialogues Berlin 2017 “Millions on The Move: Need for Development and Integration” were held on December 4–5, 2017 at the Robert Bosch Stiftung Representative Office in Berlin, Germany.[50] Speakers addressed the state of the global migration crisis and looked at the role of different actors in advancing positive change, as well as development programs and solutions that can make a difference.[51][52][53][54]

2018 Aurora Dialogues[]

In 2018, Aurora Dialogues were held in New York (in March[55] and September[56]), Moscow,[57] Yerevan[58] and Berlin.[59]

2019 Aurora Dialogues[]

2019 Aurora Dialogues[60] took place in Armenia on October 17 – 21, 2019, during the inaugural Aurora Forum,[61] powered by partner institutions with a shared vision to address global challenges and local development.[62]

2020 Aurora Dialogues Online[]

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Aurora Dialogues have gone online in 2020, and the new format has proven to be just as efficient as the traditional one. Nine online events,[63] focused on coronavirus-related issues, refugees, education, genocide prevention and other challenges, brought together hundreds of people from all around the world.

2021 Aurora Dialogues[]

Due to the limitations imposed by the global outbreak of COVID-19, some of the Aurora Dialogues events are still held online in 2021.

Aurora Community[]

The Aurora Community program brings together selfless individuals from across the globe doing vital work on the local level, allowing them to exchange their knowledge and support each other, as well as use Aurora’s humanitarian network to advance their causes. The project was launched in December 2020 and is still in its early stages. The main goal of the Aurora Community is to serve as a catalyzer for future change, empowering modern-day heroes by creating a unique connection between like-minded people and providing them with a much-needed support system.

Aurora Humanitarian Index[]

The Aurora Humanitarian Index is an international opinion poll that measures attitudes about humanitarian issues and the impact of humanitarian intervention.[64]

2016 Aurora Humanitarian Index[]

The research revealed a significant gap between perception and reality on the issues of Syrian refugees and forced migration.[65]

2017 Aurora Humanitarian Index[]

2017 Aurora Humanitarian Index, presented to the public during the 2017 Aurora Dialogues, revealed that humanitarian donations are declining.[66] The report said: “This year’s findings demonstrate an overall decline in the support for humanitarian action based on skepticism in the ability to make an impact and ambivalence in defending social values over self-interest.[67]”

2018 Aurora Humanitarian Index[]

The third annual Aurora Humanitarian Index revealed that over half (52%) of people regarded the threat of war as their most concerning humanitarian issue. At 58%, terrorism remained people's greatest humanitarian concern. The survey also found a rise in the levels of trust in global political leaders to resolve the refugee crisis.[68][69]

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