The 2011 Roland Berger Human Dignity Award has been granted to Mazen Darwish from Syria, a partner of Hivos. The other two winners of this year’s award were Radhia Nasrawi from Tunisia and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) from Egypt.
Mazen Darwish is a courageous journalist and human rights activist, who has been working on human rights, freedom of expression and press freedom in Syria for many years. He is one of the founders and director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM). Darwish faces a travel ban since 2007 and has been arrested several times, most recently in March 2011.
Courageous
Hivos supports SCM since Mid 2010, for its relevant work operating on the crossroads of human rights and freedom of expression, under extreme difficult circumstances. The group consists of courageous volunteers, professionals in different fields, who are united in an open-minded, progressive organisation.
With its Roland Berger Human Dignity Award the German Roland Berger Foundation pays tribute to individuals and organizations from around the world who have dedicated themselves to opposing human rights violations in whatever form. The Award, endowed with EUR 1 million, is intended to help them advance their cause.
Hivos congratulates Mazen Darwish and his colleagues of SCM.
Photo copyright Flickr User Rusty Sherrif
