Norwegian Refugee Council wins Hilton Humanitarian Prize
Howard Lake | 10 August 2022 | News
The Norwegian Refugee Council is the recipient of the 2022 Conrad N Hilton Humanitarian Prize. It will receive $2.5 million in funding.
The Hilton Humanitarian Prize is the world’s largest annual humanitarian award presented to a nonprofit. It recognises extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering.
Norwegian Refugee Council
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) works for civilians in armed conflict, prioritising neglected and hard-to-reach areas where access to assistance is limited, and increasingly supports people displaced by natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change and generalised violence.
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Founded in 1947, it is currently active in 35 countries.
Jan Egeland, Secretary General of NRC, said: “We are honoured to receive this prestigious humanitarian prize at a time when we are challenged like never before in reaching, aiding and protecting people forced to flee war and repression.
“We are witnessing one devastating crisis on top of the other, authoritarian regimes and brutal armed actors trying to block our access to those in need and donor purse strings being tightened, leaving aid budgets decimated. This makes the support and recognition from private sector donors such as the Hilton Foundation vital.”
Prize jury members
This year’s prize jury consisted of:
- The Right Honourable Helen Clark
- Leymah Gbowee
- Steven M. Hilton
- Sister Joyce Meyer
- Her Majesty Queen Noor, PBVM
- Zainab Salbi
- Ann M. Veneman
- and Dr. Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León.
So far there have been 26 Hilton Humanitarian Prize laureates, including Handicap International, SHOFCO, Heifer International, METAdrasi, CAMFED, Homboy Industries, Tostan and The Task Force for Global Health.
It has awarded more than $41 million to these Prize laureates.
The first winner was Operation Smile in 1996. When UK Fundraising first started reporting on the prize in 1998 the award was worth $1 million. It has now grown to $2.5 million.
Back to in-person prize ceremony
For the past two years the award ceremony has been conducted virtually. This year the Hilton Humanitarian Symposium and Prize Ceremony will return as an in-person event, under the theme “The Power of Perseverance.”
The Symposium and Prize Ceremony will take place on 21 October 2022, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
Nominations for the 2023 prize
Nominations for the 2023 Hilton Humanitarian Prize will be open from 19 August 2022 to 28 September 2022.
More Hilton Humanitarian Prize winners
- Winner of $1.5 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize announced (26 September 2005)
- Hilton Humanitarian Prize increases to $1.5 million (14 August 2005)
- Casa Alianza wins $1 million humanitarian award (15 November 2000)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.