The Adibekyan Family Foundation for Advancement (AFFA) has become a donor for the new global humanitarian award Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. The Aurora Prize will be awarded annually to honor those who risk their lives for the sake of others.
The inaugural Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity ceremony will be held on April 24 in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The laureate will be announced by actor and philanthropist George Clooney.
The short list of nominees highlights four unique humanitarians, including Marguerite Barankitse from Maison Shalom and REMA Hospital in Burundi; Tom Catena from the Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan; Syeda Ghulam Fatima, the General Secretary of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front (BLLF) in Pakistan; and Father Bernard Kinvi, a Catholic priest from Bossemptele in the Central African Republic.
The winner will be awarded with a $100,000 prize and a unique opportunity to pass on the baton and nominate organisations that inspired them in their humanitarian efforts and are aligned with the spirit of the award to a $1 million prize.
Gagik Adibekyan, the founder of the AFFA Charity Foundation, comments, “One of the key objectives of AFFA’s activity is to raise global awareness of any manifestations of genocide and violence in today’s world. We are excited to join the Aurora Prize initiative and express our gratitude to people who stand up for humanity nowadays.”
ABOUT THE AURORA PRIZE
On behalf of all survivors of the Armenian genocide and as a token of gratitude of their rescuers, the annual Aurora Prize award seeks to draw public attention to the atrocities that are still happening all over the world, and honor those who make a significant contribution to humanity.
The awarding ceremony will be held annually in Yerevan on April 24, the official Genocide Remembrance Day in Armenia. The award was co-founded by philanthropists Ruben Vardanyan and Nubar Afeyan, and President of the Carnegie Corporation Vartan Gregorian.