Annual UN competition: Know your rights and promote them
The United Nations in the Republic of Moldova launched today the 13rd edition of the competition for the best actions to promote and protect human rights in the Republic of Moldova.
Organized since 2004, the competition aims to highlight and award creative, innovative, effective, timely and engaged human rights initiatives and actions.
“UN is looking for nominations of human rights champions, both individuals and organizations, which deserve appreciation and recognition for their tireless efforts towards promotion and protection of human rights and universal freedoms in the Republic of Moldova", said Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Moldova.
The competition will be based on nominations, with the public being encouraged to nominate civil society organizations, journalists, media organizations, public authorities, or others who have made a genuine contribution to the human rights promotion and protection in Moldova during the period of 1 September 2016 – 31 August 2017. The deadline for nominations is 30 September 2017.
The public was presented with six different categories for nomination:
- General Award for an Outstanding Human Rights Achievement
- Award for an Outstanding Human Rights Achievement at the Local Level
- Award for an Outstanding Individual Human Rights Activism
- Award for Outstanding Media Work on Human Rights
- Award for an Outstanding Integration of Human Rights and Equality into Internal Structure and Operation of the Organization
- Special Award for an Outstanding Human Rights Achievement
Similar to previous years, the nominations can be submitted in Romanian, English, Russian or in any minority language of the Republic of Moldova online at http://www.un.md/concurs/ or to the United Nations House in Chisinau. The rules of the competition are available at on the UN in Moldova’s webpage.
The nominated folders with materials, derived from the public consultation process, as well as on the basis of other available materials and independent research, will be reviewed by a team of experts and an independent board consisting of representatives of international organizations and independent experts.
The winners will be announced and awarded the prizes during the UN Human Rights Gala of Awards, organized annually on the occasion of Human Rights Day, celebrated on December 10th.
Human rights are at the core of the United Nations’ work in Moldova and an integral part of its development programmes and policy formulation. Areas of human rights engagement by UN Moldova in the recent years include elimination of violence against women, children and older people; promotion of the rights of migrants, refugees and stateless people; combating discrimination and working towards the inclusion of vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, excluded minority groups and other marginalized people or groups.