France/Normandy: 6th edition of the Prix Liberté - online voting is open to young people from all over the world!
The Freedom Award is intended to honor those who defend freedom and peace in the world. A particularity of this prize is that it involves youth from one end of the process to the other: from the selection of the battles to the designation of the winner to the awarding of the prize at the ceremony. This prize was created by the Normandy Region in association with the International Institute for Human Rights and Peace, the academic authorities of Normandy and the Canopé network.
The online voting for the Freedom 2023 Prize is open to young people aged 15 to 25 from all over the world from March 15 to April 25, to elect the winner of their choice: https: //prixliberte.normandie.fr/#home-nominated
Under the presidency of Magali Lafourcade, Magistrate and Secretary General of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH), the 2023 International Jury, composed of 24 young people, nominated the following three individuals and organizations from among 420 proposals
- Club des jeunes filles leaders de Guinée: Founded in 2016, this association chaired by Hadja Idrissa Bah campaigns for the rights of women and children in the Republic of Guinea, fighting mainly against forced marriages, sexual violence and genital mutilation. https://youtu.be/swwWidOddoE
- ECPAT International: Established in 1990, ECPAT (End child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes) is a global network of civil society organizations working to end the sexual exploitation of children in all its forms. https://youtu.be/HZNwHQl3vlw
- TXAI SURUI: Born in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, this 24-year-old Brazilian activist advocates for the rights of indigenous communities in the Amazon while warning about the ongoing destruction of the Amazon in her country. https://youtu.be/j4QaRViwC3k
The Prix Liberté 2023 will be awarded during an event dedicated 100% to youth on May 30, 2023 at the Zenith in Caen. The winner will receive a trophy made by high school students from Normandy as well as a check for 25,000 euros to defend his or her cause.
With the support of the International Institute for Human Rights and Peace, the young people will be part of an educational program that will help them understand the issues of human freedom and encourage them to express their own opinions on different subjects such as freedom of expression and the right to life.By choosing and voting for the representative of their choice, they bear a responsibility that makes them aware of the importance of this issue for their future.
For the record, the youth awarded the Liberty Prize in 2019 to the young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg for her fight for climate justice. In 2020, the Freedom Award was given to Loujain Al Hathloul, released on February 10, 2021 after 1,001 days of detention in Saudi Arabia, for her fight for women's rights in her country. In 2021, the young Afghan rapper Sonita Alizada received the Freedom Award for her fight against forced marriage of young girls. In 2022, the Child's Right and Rehabilitation Network (CRARN) won the Prix Liberté for its medical, humanitarian and psychological support to street children, who are discriminated against because of their alleged evil powers.
Source: regions-france.org
