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Home Newsroom News and press releases OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities launches call for nominations for 2018 Max van der Stoel Award
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OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities launches call for nominations for 2018 Max van der Stoel Award

THE HAGUE 20 March 2018
The Max van der Stoel Award is presented every two years. In 2018, it will be awarded for the eighth time. The 2014 award went to the non-governmental organization Spravedlivost from Kyrgyzstan, The Hague, 2 October 2014. (OSCE/Arnaud Roelofsz ) Photo details

THE HAGUE, 20 March 2018 – OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Lamberto Zannier today launched a call for nominations for the 2018 Max van der Stoel Award. The award of 50,000 euros recognizes extraordinary and outstanding achievements in improving the position of national minorities in OSCE participating States. The deadline for nominations is 1 May 2018.

Eligible candidates include individuals, groups or institutions with a record of excellence in the field of improving the position and rights of national minorities in the OSCE area.

“I encourage all interested persons to propose their preferred candidate(s) by contacting an OSCE field operation, institution (ODIHR, RFOM, HCNM or OSCE Secretariat) or delegation,” said Zannier. “Only these OSCE entities can formally nominate candidates and I invite them to support all the proposals they receive and to submit their chosen candidate(s) to my office by the 1 May 2018 deadline. I also urge them to proactively engage with civil society and encourage more proposals for eligible candidates.”

OSCE field operations, institutions and delegations should send their nominations directly to the office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities via email (mvds@hcnm.org), through the online nomination form (maxvanderstoelaward.com) or by mail/diplomatic post to:

Max van der Stoel Award
Prinsessegracht 22
2514 AP The Hague
The Netherlands

After receiving all nominations, a special jury composed of distinguished experts of international repute and chaired by the High Commissioner will choose the winner. The award will be presented at a ceremony in The Hague in November 2018.

Established in 2001 by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the award honours Max van der Stoel, a prominent Dutch statesperson who was the first OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, while also highlighting issues related to national minorities.

More information about the award is available in this factsheet.