Deadline: June 1, 2018
Nominations for 2018 Ginetta Sagan Award are open. The purpose of the Ginetta Sagan Fund of Amnesty International USA is to support courageous women human rights defenders around the world who are working in dangerous contexts to further the rights of women and children. The Ginetta Sagan Award recognizes and assists women who are working to protect the liberty and lives of women and children in areas where human rights violations are widespread.
The Ginetta Sagan Award emphasizes that more human rights work must be done by and for women. The annual award grant of $20,000 is given in recognition of individual accomplishment but also in the belief that it will serve as a beacon of hope to women everywhere who are fighting for human rights. The Award is intended to help women throughout the world in their struggle to overcome oppression, to let them know that they are not alone.
The Award:
- Recognizes outstanding achievement, often at great personal risk.
- Enhances the recipient’s ability to live and work freely, and protects the recipient’s capacity to continue her work, by bringing a new level of international attention to her accomplishments and the obstacles she faces.
- Brings increased international scrutiny to the crisis, region, or issue for which the recipient works.
Award
The $20,000 award can be used by the awardee at her complete discretion. The money is awarded to the individual, not the organization.
With the $20,000 award to be used at the awardee’s discretion, the Ginetta Sagan Award also seeks to support the awardee to receive training to assist in her ongoing work. To this end, in addition to the $20,000 award, the awardee can receive up to $5,000 to further their professional development. This can include covering her expenses to participate in, and/or attend trainings throughout 2019.
They ask that the awardee be available for a national tour to promote her work in late fall, 2018 for approximately two weeks. The awardee should be comfortable with public appearances, speaking in public, and doing interviews.
Eligibility
- Open to women human rights defenders around the world
- Founder and/or Executive Director of an organization
- Under threat for her activism.
- Proven effective at addressing human rights issues.
- Has brought about significant change in her country, region, or issue through her work.
- A political party leader or government official / employee is not eligible for the Ginetta Sagan Fund award. Amnesty International is a strictly non-partisan organization.
Nomination
Nomination form and letters of recommendation must be received by June 1, 2018.
Nominations must include the following:
- Letter of Recommendation: Each letter of recommendation should inform the Selection Committee about why the candidate is deserving of the Ginetta Sagan Award for Women’s and Children’s Rights. To the extent that it is relevant, please include any personal background related to human rights. Please include answers to the following questions:
- What kinds of personal interactions have you had with the candidate? How would you characterize those interactions?
- What compels you to nominate this candidate?
- How has the candidate impacted and/or transformed her community through her work? Examples from past nominees include changes to legislation, raising the profile of the issue in her country and internationally, providing life-saving services, etc. Please be as inclusive as possible.
- A story or history about how or why the candidate became involved in human rights issues.
- Any other relevant information you would like to include.
These two letters can be from anyone familiar with the nominee’s human rights work. If possible, please have these two letters sent along with the nomination package. Please be sure to email letter of recommendation from each recommender with the name of the nominee in the subject line.
- Photograph: Please send a photograph of the nominee to be used for press materials with the name of the nominee in the subject line. Please be sure that the GSF has legal permission to use the photograph in all media.
- Supporting Materials: Any additional material that can help the Selection Committee gain insight into the candidate would be very helpful. This can include website links to press, interviews, and any other relevant information. This may be submitted along with the nominee photograph and letters of recommendation.
Please submit completed nomination form and supporting materials to: [email protected].
For more information, visit Ginetta Sagan Award.
