UN Moldova announces the opening of the United Nations Human Rights Awards 2021 competition

The competition aims at highlighting and awarding the most creative, innovative, efficient, appropriate and participatory initiatives and actions to advocate and protect the human rights in the Republic of Moldova on both banks of the River Nistru.

The 2021 Competition includes four awards as follows:

1. General Award for an Outstanding Human Rights Achievement in 2020, 2021;
2. Award for an Outstanding Human Rights Achievement at the local level in 2020, 2021;
3. Special Award for Outstanding Achievements in the field of rights to health, education, work and/or social protection during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 - 15 October 2021;
4. Special Award for groups/organizations for active involvement in promoting equality and non-discrimination in 2020, 2021;

The nominations for any of the awards mentioned above can be made online: https://bit.ly/2YLPFzZ  in Romanian, Russian, English or any other minority language present in the Republic of Moldova (in this case please select Romanian or Russian language and provide your answers in the minority language). The candidates can be individuals or companies that performed activities during 15 October 2019 - 15 October 2021, and during 7 March 2020 - 15 October 2021 for the Outstanding Achievement in the field of human rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nominations of third parties and self-nominations are accepted.

The nominations shall include the following information:

• Name of nominated person or company, including contact details;
• Name of person or company that registers the nomination, including contact details;
• Details about the relation between the nominated person or company and the person or company that makes the nomination;
• Detailed argumentation why the nominated person, company or organization shall get the award
• Mention the category for which the nomination/self-nomination is made;

Attention: the nomination category may be amended by the Independent Awards Council, if necessary.

Proposed candidates should not have received the UN Human Rights Award in the past five years. Also, their actions should have not been implemented with the support or with finances from the UN agencies/programmes/funds.

For more details about the nomination process please consult the Competition Regulation on the organization of the competition for the best human rights promotion and protection actions to be awarded with the 2021 Human Rights Award.

The nomination forms may be submitted online with the confirmation of submitting the nomination to the email rco.moldova@un.org. Deadline for candidate’s registration is 15 November 2021, 18.00.

Files of nominated persons or companies obtained as a result of the public consultation process as well as having analyzed available materials will be judged by a team of experts and an independent council consisting of representatives of international organizations and missions and independent experts.

Nominations/self-nominations will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Impact on human rights;
• Innovation and creativity;
• Dedication and commitment;
• Courage in addressing difficult subjects or issues;
• Communication and visibility;
• Sustainability;
• Professionalism and compliance with the highest standards of ethics;

The candidates for awards do not necessarily have to meet all the above criteria.

The competition winners will be announced and awarded during the 2021 UN Human Rights Gala organized annually on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day celebrated in the month of December.