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| Statutes of the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights |
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| This Prize succeeds with an enlarged scope the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education established in 1978 |
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Documents 5 of 5
Article 1 - Purpose
The purpose of the UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights is to reward the efforts of institutions, organizations and individuals that have made a particularly important and effective contribution to the promotion of a culture of human rights at regional and international levels.
This contribution could be made through the dissemination of knowledge, development of human rights education and research, sensitization of decision-makers and general public on human rights issues and related challenges, as well as the imparting of skills and the moulding of attitudes aimed at strengthening respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Prize shall be awarded also to encourage or stimulate innovative initiatives serving to promote a culture of human rights.
The contribution should be in line with the Charter of the United Nations and the Constitution of UNESCO and fully correspond to the principles and standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant international instruments.
The objective of the Prize conforms to the UNESCO Strategy on Human Rights, adopted by the General Conference at its 32nd session in 2003, and the policies and priorities for the entire Organization [the Medium-Term Strategy 2008-2013 (34 C/4): Overarching Objective 3 – Addressing emerging ethical challenges; Strategic Programme Objective 8: Monitoring critical emerging ethical and societal issues].
Article 2 - Designation, amount and periodicity of the Prize
2.1 The Prize shall be entitled “The UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights”.
2.2 The Prize (and all expenses related thereto) shall be funded by the City of Bilbao (the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain) - (the Donor), and shall consist of a sum of a recurrent payment of about US $ 150,000. The exact value of the Prize shall be determined by the Director-General in consultation with the Donor on the basis of the contribution received from the Donor, the interest on the sum deposited in the Special Account, in accordance with the Financial Regulations of UNESCO, and the charges to be borne by the account for the cost of administering the Prize, and shall not be less than US$20,000. The Prize will comprise also the Diploma and the Trophy.
2.3 The financial contribution for the Prize will be made by the Donor every two years during the first trimester of the year of the award of the Prize. All funds received and the interest accrued thereon shall be kept in the Special Interest-Bearing Account for the Prize in conformity with its Financial Regulations (see Annex I).
2.4 The full staff support and operating/management costs of the Prize, including all costs related to the meeting of the International Jury, creation of trophies, award ceremony and public information activities, estimated at about US$150,000 shall be fully covered by the contribution from the Donor, received to the Special Account for the Prize. To this end, the Director-General will determine a mandatory overhead cost amount to be applied and charged against the funds in the Special Account, which is to be established under the Financial Regulations for the Prize.
2.5 The Prize shall be awarded every two years, or once every UNESCO biennium, initially for three biennia, starting from 2008. In exceptional cases, the Prize amount may be equally divided between two winners, each of which is considered to merit the Prize.
Article 3 – Conditions/Qualifications of candidates
3.1 Candidates shall have made a significant contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights by means of education, training, research, advocacy and sensitization at national, regional and/or international level. They shall be required to have taken one or more particularly noteworthy initiative for the development of human rights culture, namely:
(a) :- by carrying out programmes and projects with a view to promote respect for human rights at the international, national, regional or local level;
- by producing educational materials or other special aids for the development of human rights education and training programmes;
- by undertaking, coordinating or encouraging research with a view to implement human rights standards and eliminate obstacles to building a culture of human rights;
- by carrying out special surveys or by launching projects that have led to a significant increase of attention to human rights issues among the decision-makers and the general public;
- by helping significantly to promote access to human rights information, education and results of research to professionals with special responsibilities in the field of human rights;
- by fostering the establishment of centres specializing in human rights education, research and information;
- by launching important awareness-raising campaigns or other human rights information activities designed for general public through the media and other channels;
- by encouraging and stimulating innovative initiatives serving to promote a culture of human rights;
- by carrying out cultural activities in favour of the promotion of a culture of human rights;
- any other activity recognized as essential to furthering universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without discrimination.
(b) In addition, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:- the duration of the activity must be sufficient to permit its results to be assessed and its effectiveness proved;
- it should make a notable contribution to the basic objectives of the United Nations and of UNESCO in the field of human rights;
- the work accomplished should serve as an example and be such as to stimulate further similar initiatives;
- it should have proved effective in mobilizing new resources, both intellectual and physical, for promoting a culture of human rights;
- it should contribute to the understanding and solution of international and national human rights problems;
- it should contribute to the improvement of understanding among nations, peoples and individuals, to the promotion of peace, peaceful conflict management and international understanding, and to action to combat racism, discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
3.2 The Prize may be conferred upon an individual, a group of individuals, institutions and other entities or non-governmental organizations.
Article 4 – Designation/Selection of prizewinner/s
The prizewinner/prizewinners [up to two laureates] shall be selected by the Director-General of UNESCO on the basis of the assessments and recommendations made by an international jury.
Article 5 – Jury
5.1 The Jury shall consist of five independent members of different nationalities and gender, appointed by the Director-General for a period of six years. Members of the Jury should have internationally recognized reputation in the field of human rights. They shall be eligible for re-election. Representatives and alternatives of Members of the Executive Board may not serve as jurors. Jurors involved in a real or potential conflict of interest shall recuse themselves from further deliberations or be asked by the Director-General to do so. The Director-General may replace members of the jury for reason.
5.2 The Jury shall elect its own Chair and Deputy Chair. Members shall receive no remuneration for their work, but will receive allowances for travel and accommodation, where required. A quorum of three jurors present will be required for jury deliberations to proceed. The working languages for deliberations by the Jury shall be English and French.
5.3 The Jury shall conduct its business and deliberations in conformity with these Statutes and shall be assisted in the performance of its task by the Secretary of the Prize (a member of the UNESCO Secretariat), designated by the Director-General. Decisions shall be taken by consensus to the extent possible and otherwise by secret ballot until a simple majority is obtained. A member shall not take part in a vote concerning a nomination from his or her country.
5.4 The Jury shall meet once every two years for two working days three months after the closing date for the submission of nominations, to make its recommendations to the Director-General for the selection of that year’s prizewinner.
5.5 The Jury shall send an assessment on nominations and accompanying recommendations to the Director-General of UNESCO following its meeting at UNESCO Headquarters or in Bilbao (alternately) and no later than 30 September of the year of the award of the Prize.
Article 6 – Nomination of candidates
6.1 When UNESCO has received the funding of the Prize, as indicated in Article 2 above, the Director-General shall officially invite the submission of nominations to the Secretariat of the Prize, by 15 July of the year of the award of the Prize, from the governments of Member States, in consultation with their National Commissions, as well as from non-governmental organizations maintaining formal consultative relations with the Organization, especially those concerned with human rights.
6.2 Nominations shall be submitted to the Director-General by the governments of Member States, in consultation with their National Commissions, and by non-governmental organizations maintaining formal relations with UNESCO. A self-nomination cannot be considered.
6.3 Each nomination shall be accompanied by a written recommendation of not more than five standard pages in length, which shall include, in English or French, inter alia (all other materials may be attached as an annex; they will not be returned to nominators):
(a) a description of the candidate’s background and achievements;
(b) a summary of the work or the results of the work, publications and other supporting documents of major importance, submitted for consideration;
(c) a definition of the candidate’s contribution to the Prize’s objectives.
Article 7 – Procedure for the awarding of the Prize
The Prize shall be awarded by the Director-General in the presence of the Mayor of Bilbao, at an official ceremony held for that purpose. For each edition of the Prize, the exact date and place of the award ceremony will be decided by the Director-General in consultation with the Donor. UNESCO shall present to the prizewinner/prizewinners a check for the amount of the prize as well as diploma and the trophy. UNESCO shall officially announce the name/names of the prizewinner/prizewinners on 10 December each year the award is made, on the occasion of Human Rights Day.
7.2 If a work being rewarded has been produced by two or three persons, the Prize shall be awarded to them jointly. In no case may a prize amount be divided between more than three persons.
7.3 The prizewinner/prizewinners, if possible, shall give a lecture on a subject relevant to the work for which the Prize has been awarded. Such a lecture shall be organized during or in connection with the Prize ceremony.
7.4 The work produced by a person since deceased shall not be considered for a prize. If, however, a prizewinner dies before he has received the Prize, then the Prize may be presented posthumously (awarded to relatives or institution).
7.5 Should a prizewinner decline the Prize, the Jury shall submit a new proposal to the Director-General.
Article 8 – Sunset clause – mandatory renewal of the Prize
8.1 After a period of six years, the Director-General of UNESCO together with the Donor will undertake a review of all aspects of the Prize and decide about its continuation or termination. The Director-General will inform the Executive Board of UNESCO about the results of this review.
8.2 In case of termination of a Prize, the use of any unspent balance of funds shall be determined by the Director-General, in accordance with the financial regulations for the Prize.
Article 9 – Appeals
No appeals shall be allowed against the decision of UNESCO with regard to the award of the Prize. Proposals received for the award of the Prize may not be divulged.
Article 10 – Amendments to the Statutes of the Prize
Any amendment to the present Statutes shall be submitted to the Executive Board for approval. |
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Related UNESCO Themes |
Human Rights |
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Document Type |
Statutes |
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File |
Statutes.pdf |
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Format |
PDF |
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Author(s) |
UNESCO |
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Publisher |
UNESCO |
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Publication Location |
Paris, France |
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Publication Year |
2008 |
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Number of Pages |
4 p. |
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Keywords |
human rights |
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