The Nansen Refugee Award

UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
Logo of the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
Awarded for	Outstanding service to the cause of refugees
Location	Geneva
Presented by	United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
First awarded	1954
Website	www.unhcr.org/nansen

The UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award is awarded annually by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to an individual, group, or organization in recognition of outstanding service to the cause of refugees, displaced or stateless people. It was established in 1954.

The award is named after the intrepid Norwegian polar explorer, statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Fridtjof Nansen. As the first High Commissioner for Refugees at the League of Nations, Nansen's achievements made significant strides in giving a voice to the forcibly displaced. UNHCR's Nansen Refugee Award consists of a commemorative medal, the Nansen Medal, and a 100.000 USD monetary prize, donated by the governments of Norway and Switzerland, to begin a project in consultation with UNHCR to assist the forcibly displaced. The Swiss and Norwegian governments, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the IKEA Foundation support the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award programme.

Each year, the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award is presented at a dignified ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the "world's humanitarian capital". Held at the Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, the ceremony coincides with the annual UNHCR Executive Committee (Excom) meeting.

In 2011, UNHCR collaborated with the Université of Genève (UNIGE), the Foundation Pour Genève, and the Académie de droit international humanitaire et droits humains à Genève (ADH) to organize the first Nansen panel discussion. Now an annual event, the discussion engages the Geneva intellectual community, media and youth about the refugee cause and the work of UNHCR.

In 2012, the discussion entitled "Les femmes et la reconstruction de la Somalie: du trouble à l'espoir" ("Women and the Reconstruction of Somalia: From Turmoil to Hope") featured Leymah Gbowee, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Secretary-General of the NRC Elisabeth Rasmusson, and UNHCR Honorary Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador Barbara Hendricks as panelists.