Top l to r: Marguerite Barankitse and Dr. Tom Cartena.
Bottom l to r: Syeda Ghulam Fatima and Father Bernard Kinvi
YEREVAN — The Aurora Prize Selection Committee announced the four Aurora Prize finalists as Marguerite Barankitse, from Maison Shalom and REMA Hospital in Burundi; Dr. Tom Catena, from Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan; Syeda Ghulam Fatima, the General Secretary of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front in Pakistan; and Father Bernard Kinvi, a Catholic priest in Bossemptele in the Central African Republic.
The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is a new global award that will be given annually to individuals who put themselves at risk to enable others to survive. Recipients will be recognized for the exceptional impact their actions have made on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes, having overcome significant challenges along the way. One of the four finalists, the ultimate Aurora Prize Laureate, will receive a grant of $100,000 and the chance to continue the cycle of giving by nominating organizations that inspired his or her work for a $1 million award.
The Aurora Prize was created by the co-founders of 100 LIVES, a pioneering global initiative seeking to express gratitude to those who put themselves at risk to save Armenians from the Genocide one hundred years ago. On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, the annual Aurora Prize aims to raise public consciousness about atrocities occurring around the world and reward those working to address those issues in a real and substantial manner.
“All four finalists are being recognized because they have found the courage to fight against injustice and violence inflicted upon those most vulnerable in their societies,â€
