Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Awards

Open or will open again Democracy and freedom Gender equality and sexual orientation Human rights and equality Human rights and justice International issues Overseas aid and development Racial equality Refugees and asylum seekers World issues Africa Antrim & Newtownabbey Ards & North Down Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Asia and Middle East Australia Belfast City Causeway Coast and Glens Derry City and Strabane England Europe and Russia Fermanagh and Omagh Great Britain International Lisburn and Castlereagh Mid and East Antrim Mid Ulster Newry, Mourne and Down North America Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Scotland South and Central America Wales Medium (up to £60,000)

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Overview

The Award recognizes outstanding individuals and supports the work of the Laureate on an ongoing basis through strategic litigation, training and capacity building, and advocacy before governments, international organizations, and other institutions.

Eligibility

Persons and organizations working non-violently to promote and protect human rights of any race, creed, religion, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation are eligible for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. Nominees must not be part of a government institution or have an official role within a political party, although the nominee can be affiliated with a political party. Additionally, nominees must not be self-nominated and nominees must not be nominated for the purposes of a lifetime achievement award or a posthumous award.

Cash Prize

A one-time total cash prize of U.S. $30,000 will be given to the nominee selected to receive the Award. While it is preferable that one nominee is given the Award, if more than one recipient is selected in a year, the cash prize will be divided equally among the recipients.

Human Rights Support

The only international human rights program of its kind, RFK Partners for Human Rights (PHR) forges multi-year strategic partnerships with the Human Rights Award Laureates and their organizations. Grounded in listening to and serving the real needs of the Laureates, PHR works in coordination with the human rights defenders using a rights-based approach with innovative tools to achieve sustainable social change, including high impact human rights litigation, technical assistance, fact-finding delegations, public awareness campaigns, advocating to governments, the United Nations, regional bodies, and other international entities and NGOs, and generating domestic and international support for the growing ranks of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureates. Together PHR and the Laureate develop and implement programs, striving to realize the recipient’s social change goals and to ultimately enhance the worldwide human rights movement.

Award Ceremony 2024

This year, they’re proud to present the RFK Human Rights Award to anti-detention and LGBTQ+ advocate, Arely Westley. The ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on June 6 in the Kennedy Caucus Room in Washington, D.C.

For details of laureates visit the website here

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