The Prix Liberté is awarded by 15-25 year olds every year to people or organisations fighting for freedom. The innovative campaign is organised by the Normandy Region and brought to life by the Institut international des droits de l’Homme et de la paix (International Institute for Human Rights and Peace) based in Hérouville-Saint-Clair. The award raises awareness of freedom, peace and human rights among current and future generations. This modern tribute to history is true to the values established on D-Day on June 6th 1944. Let’s meet 5 winners recognised by Normandy since the award launched.
Greta Thunberg – 2019
The first winner needs no introduction. When you think of the current climate, her name instantly springs to mind: Greta Thunberg, the Swedish environmental activist, was awarded the first Prix Liberté on July 21st 2019 at the Caen ceremony attended by the veteran, Charles Norman Shay. The award empowers communication and community to put the spotlight on all forms of freedom fighting. The jury shortlisted 3 finalists from 113 nominees: the Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, Chinese photojournalist Lu Guang and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. The majority of the 4015 young adults from 64 countries with the final vote wanted to highlight environmental issues.
Loujain Al-Hathloul – 2020
The 2020 Prix Liberté was awarded to the Saudi women’s rights campaigner Loujain Al-Hathloul at the Normandy World Peace Forum. She spent almost 3 years in Saudi Arabia’s barbaric prisons until February 2021, so her sisters made the journey to receive the award and talk to audiences on October 2nd 2020. The international jury had 238 nominees to choose from and also shortlisted Nasrin Sotoudeh, the lawyer and Iranian campaigner for human rights, and Father Pedro Opeka, the missionary involved in the fight against poverty in Madagascar. This time, Normandy students from CIFAC and Lycée Charles de Gaulle in Caen submitted the original nomination.
Sonita Alizadeh – 2021
The third Prix Liberté winner, Sonia Alizadeh, is an Afghan rapper who is vocal against forced marriage. The international jury chose three freedom fighters from 251 nominees in 2021: Sonita Alizada, Agnes Chow, the campaigner for democracy in Hong Kong, and Omar Radi, the Moroccan investigative journalist. Sonita, meaning swallow or migrant bird in Afghan, has made forced marriage a key theme in her lyrics after twice escaping it, once when she was just 9 years old. She is now a refugee in the US and won over most of the 5683 voters from 86 countries.
Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network – 2022
The first organisation to win the Prix Liberté in 2022 was the CRARN (Child Rights and Rehabilitation Network), providing medical, social, psychological and humanitarian care to street children in Nigeria. They are victims of discrimination because they are believed to have evil powers in the country. This little-known battle caught the attention of most of the 7111 online voters from 41 countries. The other two finalists shortlisted from 370 nominees submitted by 1372 young adults around the world were Mohamad Al Jounde, for campaigning to educate refugee children from the war in Syria, and Theresa Kachindamoto, the Malawi chief known for her activism promoting education and combating child marriage.
Club des jeunes filles leaders de Guinée – 2023
The association run by Hadja Idrissa Bah was founded in 2016 and campaigns for women’s and children’s rights in Guinea. It combats forced marriage, sexual violence and genital mutilation among others. The majority of the 9604 voters (76 countries) chose the association as the 2023 Prix Liberté winner from the shortlist that included ECPAT International (End child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking of children for sexual purposes) and Txai Surui, an indigenous Brazilian environmental activist. The Prix Liberté ceremony took place on May 30th at the Zénith in Caen to present Hadja Idrissa Bah, President and Founder of the Club des Jeunes Filles Leaders de Guinée, with a cheque for 25,000 euros to put towards her cause.
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