Burundi human rights activist Marguerite Barankitse was named as the inaugural winner of Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity. Charity foundation AFFA was among the sponsors of the humanitarian award.
At a ceremony held in Yerevan, Armenia, Barankitse was recognized for the extraordinary impact she has had in saving thousands of children and caring for orphans and refugees hit by civil war in Burundi.
As she accepted the award from Aurora Prize Selection Committee Co-Chair George Clooney, Barankitse said: “Our values are human values. When you have compassion, dignity and love, nothing can scare or stop you. No one can stop love. Neither the armies, nor hate, nor persecution, nor famine, nothing.”
As the first Aurora Prize Laureate, Barankitse will receive a $100,000 grant and continue the cycle of giving by donating the accompanying $1,000,000 award to organizations that have inspired her work. Marguerite Barankitse plans to donate the award to three organizations in order to advance aid and rehabilitation for child refugees and orphans, and fight against child poverty. These organizations are: Fondation du Grand-Duc et de La Grande-Duchesse du Luxembourg, Fondation Jean-François Peterbroeck (JFP Foundation), and Fondation Bridderlech Deelen Luxembourg.
It bears reminding that charity foundation AFFA was among the sponsors of the new international humanitarian award Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.
According to the founder of charity foundation AFFA Gagik Adibekyan, one of AFFA foundation’s key foci is to attract public attention all over the world to any acts of genocide and brutality in the present-day world. “We are happy to join the Aurora Prize initiative and express our shared gratitude to the people defending humanistic values today,” Gagik Adibekyan emphasized.