Wednesday, April 24 2019 17:14

ArmInfo.The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity's Selection Committee has named three outstanding 2019 Aurora Humanitarians, recognized for performing acts of  exceptional courage and their commitment to saving human life.

The 2019 Aurora Prize Laureate will be announced at a ceremony in Armenia  on October 20, 2019. With a $1 million award the Laureate will get an  opportunity to continue the cycle of giving and support the  organizations that have inspired their work.  As the founders of the  humanitarian mission Ruben Vardanyan and Noubar Afeyan told at  today's meeting with journalists, this year's laureates for the award  are:

Mr. Mirza Dinnayi, Co-Founder and Director of Luftbrucke Irak  (Airbridge Iraq), a humanitarian organization that flies Yazidi  victims from Iraq to Germany for medical treatment. Mirza Dinnayi has  helped several hundred women escape from the territories controlled  by ISIS, personally taking part in missions to bring them back to  safety, and delivered food and water to the Yazidis in isolated  areas. Driven by his passion to save lives, he has found a way to  overcome numerous bureaucratic and logistic obstacles to help the  most vulnerable. Mr. Dinnayi has nominated three organizations that  provide educational opportunities to underserved students and  disaster relief: Air Bridge Iraq, SEED Foundation and Shai Fund.

Mr. Zannah Bukar Mustapha, lawyer, Director and Founder of Future  Prowess Islamic Foundation - a school that provides education to some  of the most deprived children in Maiduguri, Nigeria. In October 2016,  he secretly traveled to meet with Boko Haram rebels in their Sambisa  forest hideout during a media blackout and left with 21 children.  Thirteen months later, supported by ICRC, the Swiss government and  the Nigerian authorities, he negotiated the additional release of 82  girls. Zannah Bukar Mustapha has nominated three organizations that  aim to reduce conflict through strong community effort and good  governance: Future Prowess Islamic Foundation, Adab Community Renewal  Foundation and Herwa Community Development Initiative.

Ms. Huda Al-Sarari, lawyer and activist. Huda Al-Sarari is a brave  and inspiring Yemeni human rights activist, who singlehandedly  investigates, exposes and challenges a clandestine network of secret  prisons run by foreign governments in Yemen, where thousands of men  and boys have faced arbitrary detention. She has amassed  incontrovertible evidence of the abuse that takes place within the  prisons and succeeded in convincing Amnesty International and Human  Rights Watch to take up the cause. She has nominated an international  organization that defends victims of extreme human rights abuse and  two organizations that combat discrimination and promote equality:  Reprieve, Equal Rights Trust and Wethaq Foundation for Civil  Orientation.

 

As Noubar Afeyan noted, the commission selected three finalist  characters from 719 applications received from 72 countries, and a  total of 523 unique candidates were nominated.

In turn, Ruben Vardanyan announced that the winner of the Aurora  Award- 2019 will be named at the ceremony to be held in Armenia on  October 20, 2019, and a reward of $ 1 million will allow the laureate  to continue the relay of good and support organizations that inspired  his activities. The Aurora Award Ceremony - 2019 will be held during  the first Aurora Forum, a unique weekly conference with a rich  program dedicated to the exchange of experience in the field of  global social, scientific, technological, educational and  humanitarian innovations. The Aurora Forum will be held from 14 to  October 21, 2019 in Yerevan, "said Vardanyan, adding that October was  not chosen by chance, and guests will have the opportunity to enjoy  the warm autumn days, to participate in wine and cinema festivals.

"These are awe-inspiring humanitarians, fighting the good fight for  our common humanity.  The Aurora Prize acknowledges the immense  humanitarian impact that can be made by the persistence and  commitment of single individuals and deserves the world's gratitude  for the way in which it highlights their achievement and maximizes  their capacity. This Prize, like no other, gives these heroes the  recognition they deserve and empowers them to continue their work,"  noted Gareth Evans, Aurora Prize Selection Committee member and  President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group. 

To clarify the journalists, what is the success of this humanitarian  initiative, Vardanyan, in particular, said: "For the first time in  history we give to the world, but not demand." According to him, for  all the years of the initiative, more than 850 thousand people around  the world have received help.

In turn, Noubar Afeyan noted that during the Armenian Genocide,  representatives of many countries helped the Armenians, and with this  initiative they express gratitude for that help. "It seems to me that  we should adhere to the new strategy and resist the past.  That is,  if the enemy destroyed us then we must save lives, if we died of  starvation, now we need to feed those in need, and so on. And this is  ours the activity will further raise international awareness of the  events of 100 years ago, "he said, adding that everyone whom the  humanitarian initiative helped, they know about Armenia and the  Genocide, many of them write poems about Armenians, they learn  Armenian.

In conclusion, Vardanyan stated that the deliberate devaluation of  the term "genocide" is taking place in the world today. "We should  not prove to anyone or wait for someone to recognize the Armenian  Genocide. We know that it was. Therefore, we should help those who  once helped our ancestors to escape. Through my activities, 28 family  members touched upon this tragedy. I didn't see my paternal  relatives. At one time, 5 to 10% of our brothers and sisters were  rescued by representatives of other countries, and now we have to  take this baton, "Vardanyan concluded.