The FEDE Human Rights Prize

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Promoting ideas of progress through the defense of human rights

The FEDE, International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO), which is a non-profit association, a supranational body holding participatory status with the Council of Europe, includes in its educational mission the promotion of human rights values.    

Inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the FEDE is dedicated to promote awareness, respect and enforcement of human rights amongst its member schools through the transmission of the values of peace, non-discrimination, equality, justice, non-violence, tolerance, openness and respect for human dignity.

The FEDE, through its mission and its initiatives, encourages debate, raises awareness and opens up a space for reflection on the major issues of today and tomorrow.

“We consider the defense and promotion of human rights to be a core part of our commitment. All of our research, all of our teaching materials, all of our actions and all of our training courses are designed around the challenges of citizenship, democracy and human rights.  We hope that these values inspire all of our learning paths because we are convinced that they enhance the quality of teaching and contribute to the challenge of better living together. By sharing these values with our international community of close to 200,000 people, we are ensuring that we will train a generation of ambassadors of the ideals of progress; protectors, defenders and promoters of these founding principles”. explains Claude Vivier Le Got – Chairwoman of the FEDE and President of the “Education and Culture” Committee of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe.

This vision is translated into concrete actions

First of all at the Council of Europe, where the FEDE participates and actively contributes to the work of the Human Rights Commission of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe, the voice and expression of civil society. This work is aimed at protecting human rights, ensuring their promotion and guaranteeing social rights. Secondly, by awarding every year The FEDE Human Rights Prize.

This Prize distinguishes the initiatives of FEDE students, FEDE faculty and FEDE schools in the field of human rights. It highlights singular projects that contribute to the effective promotion of its founding principles.

“Awarding this prize is a powerful message of promotion of these values within our international network. In front of our changing societies, challenged by poverty, violence or discrimination, the defense and promotion of Human Rights have become an absolute necessity” explains Farhang GHASSEMI, human rights delegate, member of the FEDE Committee.

Nominations for the 2021 Human Rights Award of Excellence :

Opening of applications: The 2nd week of October

Deadline for applications: Monday 1 February

Judges meet: The last week of February

The Human Rights prize will be awarded during the FEDE General Assembly

Completed entries should be sent no later than midnight on Tuesday 1 February 2022 to the following address: benjamin.beaud@fede.education

Download the rules here : Rules

Download the entry form here : Entry form

Presentation of the FEDE Human Rights Prize

FEDE Human Rights Prize 2020-2021

 

Anaëlle Rivière, Léa Poudroux, Amandine Fidji and Myriam Imaho, all students at HEDECI (Tampon, La Réunion), are the winners of the 2020-2021 FEDE Human Rights Prize.

 

The winners impressed the judges with a bilingual French-English (just like the FEDE!) video report giving centre stage to the peaceful, harmonious life of people living on the island La Reunion, who have a number of different cultures and faiths.

 

In a combination of shots of the island and interviews with locals, the four young winners expressed their love for the island and brought to life many of the values dear to the FEDE: respect for diversity, tolerance, fraternity, equality, dialogue between people of different views, and the quest for peace and harmonious societies.

 

The second prize was awarded to Olivier Michel, a student at ENACO (Lille, France), who wrote a short story on the topic of education and the sharing of knowledge. Nasser Said, Nirina Rahmah RabennantoAndro, Terence Grégory Ko and Amate Kangnizou Alfred Octavien (Marrakech, Morocco) won the third prize for a project combining a PowerPoint presentation and interviews on the inadequacy of politically motivated human rights policies in Africa.

 

The FEDE congratulates all the competition entrants, in particular the nine students who won the first three prizes (€850, €500 and €350). In order to encourage more students and institutions to enter the competition, the FEDE’s Committee has decided to double the prize money on offer for the 2022 competition. The winnings will be distributed among the future winners of the first, second and third prizes. As a reminder, the teachers who have supervised the winning projects win €150. Additionally, each of the winning students receive a personal certificate of excellence.

Focus on the characteristics of Human Rights

Human rights are the inalienable rights of all human beings, regardless of nationality, place of residence, gender, ethnic or national origin, color, religion, language or any other condition. They imply both rights and obligations at both the individual and state levels. They are :

  • Universal and inalienable: International human rights law is based on the principle of universality, which implies that the Right is inherent to all human beings. Therefore, human rights are inalienable. They cannot be abrogated, except in special circumstances and in accordance with a specific procedure.
  • Interdependent, indivisible and inseparable: All human rights are indivisible, that is, interrelated and interdependent, in the sense that the violation of one right often compromises the exercise of several others and the improvement of one right facilitates the progress of others. They are therefore of equal importance and essential to the dignity and worth of every human being.
  • Equal and non-discriminatory: International human rights law gives universal value to the principle of non-discrimination. This principle is accompanied by the principle of equality, which appears in Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”.