Nominations Close for the 2022 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity

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Pakistan, Karachi, January 2011 Over 350,000 people in Sindh are still living in tents, because floods destroyed their home. Unable to rebuild and without the means to provide for themselves, their only way of surviving come from food rations provided by WFP. In addition to wheat flour, oil and pulses, children receive a nutritionally charged chick-pea paste called “Wawa Mum.” A play on the expression in Pashto meaning “yum!”, locally-produced Wawa Mum packs all the vitamins and nutrients that young children need to grow and be healthy. Despite the persistently harsh living conditions for many people in Sindh, the situation there, as in the rest of Pakistan, is starting to look up. Many villages have begun rebuilding and early recovery activities like “Cash and Food for Work” schemes that provide for people’s basic necessities while they clear roads and repair bridges are starting to get under way.

Hundreds of people from across the globe have nominated 592 unique candidates

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative has announced the end of the nomination period for the seventh Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. Nominations officially opened on April 24, 2021, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, following the announcement of five 2021 Aurora Humanitarians, chosen by the Aurora Prize Selection Committee for their courage, commitment and impact. Overall, a total of 633 submissions have been received for the 2022 Aurora Prize, hailing from 62 countries including Armenia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Georgia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, USA and Ukraine.  

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“As someone who has just been honored with the Aurora Prize, it makes me very happy to know that so many deserving candidates have been nominated this year. The Prize reflects a cycle of kindness that brings a message of peace, solidarity, and support to the world and, most importantly, to all these people who work around the clock. And now, they have a chance to be named the 2022 Aurora Prize Laureate and make an even bigger difference in the world,” said 2021 Aurora Prize Laureate Julienne Lusenge, co-founder of Women's Solidarity for Inclusive Peace and Development (SOFEPADI) and Fund for Congolese Women (FFC), whose outstanding work has been recently recognized at the Aurora Prize events in Venice, Italy.

Each nomination will now be carefully reviewed by a panel of professionals and experts in the humanitarian field. These specialists will prepare a shortlist of nominees who have demonstrated exceptional courage, commitment and impact. After that, the shortlist will be assessed by the Aurora Prize Selection Committee, who will select the 2022 Aurora Humanitarians and ultimately the Aurora Prize Laureate. 

“In the midst of the dreadful challenges the world has faced over the past year and a half, extraordinary individuals such as the 2022 Aurora Prize nominees provide a source of inspiration and motivation in the selfless and courageous work they undertake. Alongside my fellow members of the Selection Committee, there is always much impassioned discussion and debate in selecting the Aurora Humanitarians and ultimately the Laureate, seeking to distinguish between so many remarkable acts of kindness, resilience and compassion. The process, however, is also most gratifying and a great privilege to be able to shine a light on some incredible, life-changing endeavours” noted Lord Ara Darzi, Chair of Aurora Prize Selection Committee and Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London.

The names of the 2022 Aurora Humanitarians will be revealed on April 24, 2022, and the 2022 Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity will be awarded on behalf of the survivors of Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors later in 2022.

Photo: A baby with a packet of "Wawa Mum", a locally produced food product tailored to the nutritional needs of small children. Pakistan, Karachi, January 2011, WFP/Amjad Jamal