The deadline for receiving nominations for the Max van der Stoel Award 2020 has been extended to 30 April 2020. The award of 50,000 euros recognizes extraordinary and outstanding achievements in improving the position of national minorities in the OSCE participating States.
To propose a candidate, contact an OSCE field operation, a delegation to the OSCE or one of the OSCE institutions (the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Representative on Freedom of the Media or the High Commissioner on National Minorities, as well as the OSCE Secretariat and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly) with the name of an individual, group or organization you wish to be considered for the award. Only the above-mentioned OSCE entities can nominate candidates. The OSCE entity you approach will therefore consider your submission and decide which of the proposed candidates to nominate.
“In order to ensure transparency, fair competition and inclusiveness, my office will nominate all qualified candidates whose application it receives. I encourage all other OSCE entities to do the same,” said OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) Lamberto Zannier.
The OSCE field operations, delegations and institutions should send their nominations directly to the office of the HCNM either via email (mvds@hcnm.org), through the online nomination form (maxvanderstoelaward.com) or by mail/diplomatic post to:
Max van der Stoel Award
Prinsessegracht 22
2514 AP The Hague
The Netherlands
After receiving all nominations, a special jury of distinguished experts of international repute, chaired by the High Commissioner, will choose the winner. The award will be presented at a ceremony in The Hague in November 2020.
For more information about the award read this factsheet.
For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: https://www.osce.org/hcnm/449344
A special jury composed of distinguished experts of international repute and chaired by the High Commissioner chooses the winner of the Max van der Stoel Award. Only OSCE institutions, field missions and delegations of the OSCE participating States may nominate candidates directly. Others can propose an eligible candidate by contacting their local OSCE mission, a delegation to the OSCE or one of the OSCE institutions: they will decide whether to nominate the proposed candidate.
On 9 November 2018, in The Hague, the Netherlands, the high school students from the municipality of Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina were awarded the 2018 Max van der Stoel Award in recognition of their outstanding courage and inspirational activism, which led to the prevention of further segregation in schools in Jajce as well as throughout the country.
The students successfully resisted the local authorities’ decision to establish a new ethnically segregated school in the municipality in 2016.
The award, co-sponsored by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) and the Dutch Foreign Ministry, recognizes extraordinary and outstanding achievements in improving the position of national minorities across the OSCE countries.
Read this press release about the award ceremony and watch the photo gallery from the event.
Learn more about the winners’ story here.
