The North-South Prize is awarded annually by the North-South Center of the Council of Europe to two public figures who are recognized for their deep commitment, outstanding achievements and hope they have generated in the field of protection of human rights , the defense of pluralist democracy and North-South partnership and solidarity. The prize originated in 1995 and is known to the Lisbon North-South Prize.
Call for candidates and selection
The „quadrilogue“ (made up of governments, members of parliament, local and regional authorities, and non-governmental organizations from civil society) involved in overseeing the North-South Center of the Council of Europe, along with international and regional media representatives government organizations, are urged to name individuals or an organization whose activities are considered worthy of distinction. The call for candidates is made on its website and its Newsletters. The Center’s partners are similarly asked to inform their respective media organs. The file is for each member of the jury. After studying the files, the North-South Prize Jury makes a final decision on the candidates.
Candidate selection criteria
The Prize is awarded to a candidate from the North (Central and Northern Europe) and one from the South (Southern Mediterranean countries and Africa), preferably to a man and a woman. Candidates should be recognized in the following fields of action: human rights protection, defense of pluralist democracy, promotion of public awareness on issues, global solidarity and interdependence, and reinforcement of the North-South partnership. Candidates may be nominated for their achievements within the cultural, institutional and political fields.
North-South Prize Jury
The North-South Prize Jury is composed of the Members of the North-South Center and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, under the presidency of the Chairman of the North-South Center. The Jury is helped by the Secretariat of the North-South Center.
The winners
| year | Recipients | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Peter Gabriel | United Kingdom |
| Vera Duarte | Cape Verde | |
| 1996 | Danielle Mitterrand | la France |
| Algerian Women | algeria | |
| 1997 | Mary Robinson | ireland |
| Patricio Aylwin | chile | |
| 1998 | Graça Machel | mozambique |
| Lloyd Axworthy | Canada | |
| 1999 | Emma Bonino | italy |
| Abderrahmane Youssoufi | Morocco | |
| 2000 | Marguerite Barankitse | Burundi |
| Mario Soares | Portugal | |
| 2001 | Maria of Nazaré Gadelha Ferreira Fernandes | brazil |
| Cornelio Sommaruga | switzerland | |
| 2002 | Albina du Boisrouvray | la France |
| Xanana Gusmão | East Timor | |
| 2003 | Frene Ginwala | South Africa |
| António de Almeida Santos | Portugal | |
| 2004 | Nawal El Saadawi | egypt |
| Stéphane Hessel | la France | |
| 2005 | Bogaletch Gebre | ethiopia |
| Bob Geldof | ireland | |
| 2006 | Mukhtaran Bibi | Pakistan |
| Francisco Van Der Hoff | Netherlands | |
| 2007 | Kofi Annan | Ghana |
| Simone Veil | la France | |
| 2008 | Jorge Sampaio | Portugal |
| Rania al-Abdullah | jordan | |
| 2009 | Mihail Gorbachev | russia |
| Rola Dashti | kuwait | |
| 2010 | Louise Arbor | Canada |
| Lula da Silva | brazil | |
| 2011 | Boris Tadić | serbia |
| Souhayr Belhassen | tunisia | |
| 2012 | Monika Hauser | switzerland |
| Asma Jahangir | Pakistan | |
| 2013 | Aga Khan IV | United Kingdom |
| Suzanne Jabbour | lebanon | |
| 2014 | Maura Lynch | ireland |
| André Azoulay | Morocco | |
| 2015 | Lora Pappa | greece |
| Joaquim Alberto Chissano | mozambique | |
| 2016 | Giuseppina Nicolini | italy |
| Mbarka Brahmi | tunisia |