Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize
The Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize is awarded annually by the foundation. It was inaugurated in 1996 and is the largest humanitarian award in the world. Its annual award of USD 1.5 million was increased in 2015 to 2 million to commemorate. At $2.5 million, the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize is the world’s largest annual humanitarian award presented to a nonprofit organization.
| Sl | Name | Country | Flag | Year | Awarded For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Amazon Frontiers | United States | 2024 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 28 | One Acre Fund | Kenya | 2023 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 27 | Norwegian Refugee Council | Norway | 2022 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 26 | Camfed | International |  | 2021 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. |
| 25 | Homeboy Industries | United States | 2020 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 24 | METAdrasi | Greece | 2019 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 23 | Shining Hope for Communities | Kenya | 2018 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 22 | International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research | Bangladesh | 2017 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 21 | The Task Force for Global Health | | 2016 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 20 | Landesa | United States | 2015 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 19 | Fountain House | United States | 2014 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| Clubhouse International | United States | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |||
| 18 | ECPAT | Thailand | 2013 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 17 | HelpAge International | International | | 2012 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. |
| 16 | Handicap International | France | 2011 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 15 | Aravind Eye Care System | India | 2010 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 14 | Program for Appropriate Technology in Health | United States | 2009 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 13 | BRAC | Bangladesh | 2008 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 12 | Tostan Organization | Senegal | 2007 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 11 | Women for Women International | United States | 2006 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 10 | Partners in Health | United States | 2005 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 9 | Heifer International | United States | 2004 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 8 | International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims | Denmark | 2003 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 7 | SOS Children's Villages | Austria | 2002 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 6 | St Christopher's Hospice | United Kingdom | 2001 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 5 | Casa Alianza | United States | 2000 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 4 | African Medical and Research Foundation | South Africa | 1999 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 3 | Médecins Sans Frontières | France | 1998 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 2 | International Rescue Committee | South Africa | 1997 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. | |
| 1 | Operation Smile | South Africa | 1996 | For making extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. |
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize Laureates (2030 ~ 2021)
Amazon Frontlines
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2024
Promoting Indigenous-Led ConservationFounded in 2011, Amazon Frontlines is an international organization that supports Indigenous peoples of the Amazon to protect the forest they call home and achieve environmental impacts of global significance. The organization works on the frontlines, hand-in-hand with Indigenous leaders, communities and Nations who collectively steward nearly half of the remaining standing forest across the Amazon Basin.Amazon Frontlines is focused on ensuring that Indigenous peoples have the resources they need to protect their lands, rivers and way of life. This includes permanently protecting millions of acres of critical rainforest territories from further mining, drilling and deforestation using grassroots organizing, land titling, advocacy and legal defense, cutting-edge technology like GPS mapping and drone and camera trap surveillance and developing next generation community-led initiatives on education, women’s leadership and solar energy.Partnering for ImpactAmazon Frontlines currently focuses on the Upper Amazon, a sanctuary of immeasurable biodiversity and ecological resilience along the eastern slopes of the Andes range. This headwaters region, which spans hundreds of millions of acres across Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, is currently the best-conserved forest of the entire Amazon.Amazon Frontlines first worked together alongside diverse Indigenous peoples and international allies to build access to clean water for 78 Indigenous communities affected by oil contamination at the headwaters of the Amazon rainforest. Since then, Amazon Frontlines has brought together Indigenous leaders and communities, human rights lawyers, environmental activists, forestry specialists, anthropologists and filmmakers to develop proven, scalable and sustainable models of locally led conservation. The organization has won some of the most significant climate victories in recent times, including the A’i Cofán and Waorani people’s triumphs in protecting hundreds of thousands of acres of rainforest and establishing legal precedents for Indigenous rights in the Amazon and working within a nationwide coalition that won a referendum in 2023 to indefinitely stop oil drilling in Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park: one of the most biodiverse territories on Earth and the home to two of the world’s last uncontacted Indigenous populations.
One Acre Fund
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2023
Investing in prosperous, resilient communitiesFounded in 2006, One Acre Fund is an agricultural service provider that supports Africa’s smallholder farmers in building prosperous, resilient communities. More than 50 million families in sub-Saharan Africa earn a living from small farms, which produce 80% of the continent’s food. Yet harvests from these farms continue to lag behind the rest of the world—while recent global economic volatility and climate concerns pose an existential threat to farmers’ livelihoods.One Acre Fund invests in farmers to help them build lasting pathways to prosperity and resilience in the face of external shocks. Through its full-service program, One Acre Fund directly provides smallholder farmers with the financing, tools, and climate-smart agricultural training they need to increase yields and profits, grow their way out of hunger, protect their environments, and create thriving economies. Simultaneously, the organization partners with public and private actors to help improve their service to smallholders, improving the functioning of entire agricultural systems, for instance, for seed production or farmer training.Scaling reach for greater impactOne Acre Fund’s aim is to ensure that all farmers the organization serves can achieve big harvests, healthy families, and rich soils. On average, the farmers One Acre Fund serves increase their farm incomes by more than 40% per year from the same plot of land. They produce a surplus, often for the first time, which can be sold for profit. When smallholder farmers become more productive, they can invest in their children’s education, start new businesses, help feed their communities, and create thriving, resilient economies.One Acre Fund now reaches a network of four million farm families through its direct service program and partnerships across nine countries. One Acre Fund’s work is more critical than ever as Africa’s vulnerable smallholder families bear the brunt of mounting global crises of food insecurity, poverty and climate change.
Norwegian Refugee Council
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2022
Rights respected, people protectedFounded in 1946, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) works to protect the rights of people who are displaced by violence and find themselves in extreme vulnerability during crisis. NRC assists civilians in armed conflict, prioritizing neglected and hard-to-reach areas where access to assistance is limited, and increasingly supports people displaced by natural disasters, the adverse effects of climate change and other forms of violence. NRC operates in more than 35 countries around the world facing both new and protracted humanitarian crises and specializes in six areas: livelihoods and food security; education; shelter and settlements; information, counselling, and legal assistance; protection from violence; and water, sanitation, and hygiene.Bearing witness locally, advocating globallyNRC’s work is driven by the needs of displaced people. The organization actively seeks to understand the challenges people affected by displacement face, the systems that influence their situation, and what solutions would address their challenges and improve their lives. NRC partners with international, national and local actors to maximize collective impact, ensure effective coordination and engage in advocacy efforts.As a principled organization that stands up for the rights of displaced people, NRC advocates for access to aid and protection, and for the removal of barriers to self-reliance and durable solutions. Approximately 16,000 humanitarians work with NRC: most are hired locally in the conflict and displacement affected areas where NRC works, including people who are themselves displaced.NRC’s work illustrates how an international humanitarian organization can both leverage its position to advocate on behalf of – and provide large-scale support to – refugees and displaced people around the world. More than 100 million people have now been forced to flee their homes – in 2021, NRC assisted nearly 10 million people globally.
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CAMFED
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2021
Revolutionizing how girls’ education is deliveredFounded in 1993, CAMFED, the Campaign for Female Education, is a pan-African movement addressing poverty, inequality and injustice by supporting girls and young women often excluded from the opportunity to go to school, to learn, thrive, and become leaders and changemakers in their communities. CAMFED sees girls’ education as the starting point for social change. By partnering with communities, CAMFED unlocks the leadership potential of girls and young women.Promoting leadership with lived expertiseThrough the CAMFED Association, which serves as a powerful network of women leaders educated with CAMFED support, women use their experience to lead action on challenges their communities and countries face—from child marriage and girls’ exclusion from education to climate change. This unique network of teachers, nurses, doctors, sustainable agriculture experts and entrepreneurs now numbers 178,000, and is growing every year as more girls complete school and join them. They are determined to ensure every girl has the same opportunity they received. As a result, CAMFED’s collective efforts have supported more than 4.8 million children to go to school across Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.For nearly three decades, CAMFED has focused on making sure girls are seen, heard and supported to achieve their full potential. By developing young women’s confidence, agency and leadership, CAMFED is delivering systemic change built on social justice, equity and inclusion. This is the CAMFED Multiplier Effect: A model of education and empowerment benefiting communities, nations and the world’s future, now carried out at significant scale thanks to its powerful leadership network. As CAMFED says, “When you educate a girl, everything changes!”
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize Laureates (2020 ~ 2011)
Homeboy Industries
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2020
Breaking the cycle of violence and traumaFounded in 1988, the mission of Homeboy Industries is to provide hope, training, and support to formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated individuals, who are welcomed into a community of mutual kinship and love. Homeboy offers a wide variety of services ranging from tattoo removal to job training in the organization’s own social enterprises, to anger management and parenting classes. When an individual is supported and cared for by Homeboy, there is a ripple effect in the community, improving public safety and community health, and breaking the cycle of generational trauma in vulnerable communities.In the 1980s while serving as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights—then the most impoverished Catholic parish in Los Angeles—Fr. Gregory Boyle, S.J., witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community. While law enforcement tactics of suppression and criminal justice policies of mass incarceration were the prevailing means to address gang violence, Fr. Boyle believed that “gang violence is about a lethal absence of hope,” and a different, community-led approach could curb this violence.Trauma-informed approach and community-led solutionsHomeboy offers a trauma-informed gang intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program, and is dedicated to providing hope, training and support to individuals, which in turn makes a positive impact in those individuals’ families and communities. Homeboy stands with those who have been discriminated against due to their former life and works to break this stigma; fosters foundational healing to those in its programs to prevent re-offense; and invests in the future of its clients and staff.Serving as a blueprint for organizations and social enterprises around the world, Homeboy engenders a culture of caring by creating a space and structure for individuals as they heal from trauma and supporting their re-entry back into their community. This community-led approach has spawned a network of over 300 organizations around the world, known as the Global Homeboy Network.
METAdrasi
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2019
Supporting refugees and migrantsWith over 25 years of experience in the humanitarian field, Lora Pappa founded METAdrasi – Action for Migration and Development in 2009 when she encountered crucial gaps in the delivery of basic humanitarian services for refugees, migrants and unaccompanied children who had arrived in Greece.Based in Greece, METAdrasi’s mission is to support the reception and integration of refugees and migrants throughout the country with consistency, efficiency and the flexibility to adjust to needs as they emerge. METAdrasi is rooted in the belief that refugees and migrants should be treated with dignity and respect, empowered to exercise their rights to services, and provided protection when seeking asylum.Local approach with innovative solutionsMETAdrasi has developed a host of pioneering programs—primarily focused on interpretation, protection and education—to support the needs of unaccompanied minors and other vulnerable groups entering Greece. To date, METAdrasi has conducted over 1.4 million interpreting sessions and has supported more than 12,000 unaccompanied children.In seeking innovative solutions for complicated problems, METAdrasi leads the charge in areas where essential services are lacking, centered on the belief that migrants and refugees are a valuable part of our shared future and our shared humanity.
SHOFCO
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2018
Transforming Urban Informal Settlements
Kennedy Odede started SHOFCO (Shining Hope for Communities) as a teenager in 2004 with 20 cents and a soccer ball. Growing up in Kibera, one of the largest slums in Africa, he experienced extreme poverty, violence, lack of opportunity, and deep gender inequality. Odede also dreamed of transforming urban slums, from the inside-out.Based in Nairobi, Kenya, SHOFCO provides critical services that disrupt survival mode—giving people the opportunity to not just survive, but thrive. SHOFCO’s programs, which include health care, economic empowerment, and sustainable delivery of clean water through a cutting-edge aerial piping system, are always demand-driven and community led. Through its education programs for girls, SHOFCO empowers the future female leaders who will ultimately transform the structures that keep urban poverty in place.Grassroots Movement
SHOFCO is a grassroots movement that catalyzes large-scale transformation in urban slums.From the very first meeting inside an iron-sheet shack to the launch of the SHOFCO Urban Network, a community organizing platform, SHOFCO is—through and through—a community-driven grassroots movement. In providing communities with the opportunity to realize their full potential through collective action, SHOFCO creates sustainable, systemic change within urban informal settlements.
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icddr,b
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2017
LOCAL CARE, INTERNATIONAL REACHicddr,b is a unique global leader—integrating scientific research and comprehensive care to improve the health of billions of people living in poverty across the globe and in its host country of Bangladesh.For over 50 years, icddr,b has worked to meet the urgent needs of patients in Dhaka, particularly young children, suffering from enteric diseases. icddr,b’s hospital has grown into the world’s largest diarrheal hospital treating more than 200,000 patients a year, almost all of whom recover within 36 hours.icddr,b also conducts extensive clinical research with global reach. As many other factors affect the risk of diarrheal diseases or recovery from them—including nutritional status, income, education of mothers, access to clean water, sanitation habits and efficacy of vaccines—icddr,b has expanded into new areas of public health.INTEGRATED APPROACH FOR SCALABLE SOLUTIONSWhile developing countries are not the first place people look to find a public health revolution, icddr,b has become known for generating practical, low-cost and often lifesaving solutions that improve health outcomes of individuals living in poverty. Innovations developed by icddr,b—such as Oral Rehydration Solution, zinc for diarrhea treatment and tetanus vaccines for newborns—have saved and continue to save millions of lives.icddr,b’s institutional partnerships across the world allow its public health innovations to be brought to scale and provide public health practitioners with skills to work effectively to improve health equity.The work of icddr,b has had a profound impact on health policy and practice both locally and globally—and continues to do so today.
The Task Force for Global Health
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2016
Collaborative model to address global health problemsOver its 32-year history, The Task Force has used a powerful collaborative model to address the health needs of those most in need. The organization’s work consists of programs focused on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), vaccines, field epidemiology, public health informatics, and health workforce development. In each of these areas, The Task Force partners with other organizations, pharmaceutical companies, and ministries of health to provide the expertise and resources necessary to address large-scale health problems.
The Task Force sees collaboration as a vital tool in addressing large-scale health problems and is exploring how its expertise can help address the growing epidemic of noncommunicable diseases.International reachToday, The Task Force reaches hundreds of millions of people and supports work in 151 countries. Currently, The Task Force and its partners are working to eliminate three NTDs—blinding trachoma, river blindness, and lymphatic filariasis—by 2025. These diseases have burdened populations around the world for millennia with blindness, disfigurement, and a host of negative health effects. This work is supported by The Task Force’s pharmaceutical partners that donate billions of dollars annually in essential medicines to eliminate these diseases.
Landesa
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2015
Securing land rights
A majority of the world’s poorest live in rural areas and depend on the land to survive. Securing land rights for the world’s small farmers is critical.Research
Landesa’s work starts with research. Land tenure experts venture into the fields to speak directly with poor farmers, especially those who are women. Landesa’s ability to partner with governments and navigate each country’s particular political institutions, history and culture has been key to its success. In former Soviet-bloc countries, Landesa assisted governments with state farm reorganization and land privatization, resulting in an estimated 17.8 million Russian families and 3.5 million Ukranian families gaining secure legal rights to land. Over the course of its 30-year partnership with the Chinese government, historic legal changes guaranteeing all farmers 30-year land rights have resulted in an estimated 85 million families having secure land tenure to 162 million acres. In India and six African countries, Landesa has partnered to strengthen land rights for more than a million women and men and their families.International reach
Today, 45 years after Landesa’s founder, Roy Prosterman, stood in the rice fields of Vietnam testing his ideas about market-friendly land reform while the war waged on, Landesa (formerly the Rural Development Institute) has helped an estimated 115 million families gain secure land rights in more than 50 countries. Landesa is approached by foreign governments, foreign aid agencies and NGOs alike to help strengthen land rights to promote economic prosperity and build a better world for this and future generations.
Fountain House
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2014
International reach
Today, Fountain House/Clubhouse International directly impacts more than 100,000 people through more than 340 clubhouses in 32 countries, including 171 in the U.S. When you include family members, the numbers grow into millions.Mental illness is a global health catastrophe. In virtually every nation, support for mental disorders lags behind physical disabilities and all other major health and social issues. People with mental illness are stigmatized, ostracized, and often abused. The World Health Organization estimates that about 450 million people worldwide suffer from mental and behavioral disorders; rates are similar across all societies.The work-ordered day
The Fountain House model is based on the belief that its members are partners in their own recovery, rather than passive recipients of treatment, and that meaningful work and a sense of community are integral to mental health. Its pioneering concept of the “work-ordered day” involves all clubhouse members in the running of their own organization.Transitional employment
Its transitional employment initiative is supported by nearly 1,400 workplaces in the United States alone, where clubhouse members earn salaries and are trained to work side-by-side with mainstream workers, helping to erase the stigma that occurs when people living with mental illness are isolated from general society.Training
Studies have confirmed the effectiveness of the Fountain House/Clubhouse International model. Ten Clubhouse International Training Bases are located in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. This global community is changing the world of mental health.
Clubhouse International
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2014
International network
It serves as the Secretariat overseeing more than 82 local organizations in 75 countries. ECPAT has been the primary force organizing three World Congresses and helping participating countries develop Action Plans to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The statistics are grim.Global advocacy
The growing complexity of the industry only drives ECPAT to work harder. The last few years have seen some of ECPAT’s greatest achievements to date including the presentation in 2011 of more than seven million Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign petitions to the UN Human Rights Council. Conducted in partnership with The Body Shop, STOP is the largest human rights petition on a single issue ever presented to the United Nations.Protecting children
ECPAT developed The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. It is considered the most efficient industry tool to combat child sex tourism and includes more than 1,000 private sector companies from 40+ countries working in the hospitality, tourism and technology fields.From its global advocacy work to its capacity building, education and youth empowerment, ECPAT has been leading the world on a path to end the horrific abuses of child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking.
ECPAT International
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2013
International network
It serves as the Secretariat overseeing more than 82 local organizations in 75 countries. ECPAT has been the primary force organizing three World Congresses and helping participating countries develop Action Plans to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The statistics are grim.Global advocacy
The growing complexity of the industry only drives ECPAT to work harder. The last few years have seen some of ECPAT’s greatest achievements to date including the presentation in 2011 of more than seven million Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign petitions to the UN Human Rights Council. Conducted in partnership with The Body Shop, STOP is the largest human rights petition on a single issue ever presented to the United Nations.Protecting children
ECPAT developed The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. It is considered the most efficient industry tool to combat child sex tourism and includes more than 1,000 private sector companies from 40+ countries working in the hospitality, tourism and technology fields.From its global advocacy work to its capacity building, education and youth empowerment, ECPAT has been leading the world on a path to end the horrific abuses of child prostitution, child pornography and trafficking.
HelpAge International
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2012
International network to support older people
Five organizations in Canada, Columbia, Kenya, India and the United Kingdom set up HelpAge International in 1983 to provide a strong network to support older people worldwide. Today, this global network encompasses 94 HelpAge Affiliates operating in 70 countries, and more than 3,000 independent partner groups and older people’s organizations.Advocacy & Development
Both an advocacy and development organization, HelpAge’s focus ranges from research and policy work supporting pensions, emergency assistance and livelihoods, to providing funds for grassroots activities. In 2002, HelpAge International helped to shape the UN Madrid International Plan of Action of Aging, committing governments to include aging in all social and economic development policies. In 2011, HelpAge assisted 2 million older people to claim their first pension payment, or receive an increased sum.Empowerment
HelpAge has shown that older people are their own best advocates, and contrary to conventional thinking which characterizes older people as economically unproductive, dependent and passive, its research and experience has demonstrated the opposite. Older people make valuable contributions to society as caregivers, advisors, mentors, mediators and breadwinners. HelpAge encourages governments and communities to tap into the strengths of older people as the world prepares for this monumental demographic shift which will soon impact every country.
Humanity & Inclusion
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2011
From tragedy to hope
In 1982, two idealistic young doctors were at the Thai-Cambodian border, shocked by the plight of thousands of severely wounded landmine victims living unattended among tens of thousands of refugees. This dire experience motivated Jean-Baptiste Richardier and Claude Simonnot and their wives, Marie and Marie-Eve, to create Handicap International, now known as Humanity & Inclusion.Advocacy
Humanity & Inclusion has a long history of advocacy, having co-founded the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which led to the adoption of the Mine Ban Treaty and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. The organization was a leading advocate for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which became international law in 2008, and it continues to play a major role in its monitoring and implementation.The Federation
The Humanity & Inclusion network, which is composed of national associations in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, formed the Handicap International Federation in 2010. In three decades, Humanity & Inclusion has succeeded in influencing the way the world deals with acutely vulnerable populations, particularly persons with disabilities, whenever and wherever a crisis arises.
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize Laureates (2010 ~ 2001)
Aravind Eye Care System
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2010
Venkataswamy began his mission to eliminate needless blindness.Of the world’s 45 million blind people, 9 million live in India, where extreme sun and genetics lead many to develop cataracts in their 40s and 50s, dramatically shortening their productive years.Cataracts are almost always curable, but the poor often cannot afford the surgery needed to restore vision.Aravind’s unique assembly-line approach increases the productivity of eye care delivery tenfold, and makes available a full range of eye care services, from general ophthalmology and cataract surgery to corneal transplants and diabetic retinopathy.Millions served
Aravind operates a growing network of eight hospitals in South India where more than 350,000 eye surgeries are performed each year. Since its inception, Aravind has handled more than 34 million outpatient visits and performed more than 4.3 million surgeries—60 percent of which are subsidized or provided free to the poor. Revenue from the paying clients makes the organization self-sustainable. Aravind’s hospitals are supported by a network of specialty clinics, research laboratories, and manufacturing facilities. Mobile eye camps reach even the remotest villages.Replicating success
Leading medical schools from the United States and Europe now send students to Aravind for training, and its model has become a case study for business schools. Aravind is now expanding into the rest of the developing world, where 275 eye hospitals in 27 countries have received consultancy services in eye care management and nearly 6,300 eye care personnel from 95 countries have undergone clinical and management training at Aravind.
PATH
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2009
Today, PATH focuses on improving the health of people around the world by advancing technologies, strengthening systems, and encouraging healthy behaviors. The organization works in more than 70 countries, operates offices in 34 cities in 23 countries, and employs more than 1,100 staff. PATH is renowned for taking an entrepreneurial approach to developing and delivering high-impact, low-cost global health solutions, from lifesaving vaccines and devices to collaborative programs with communities.From modest origins emerged a state-of-the-art laboratory and product development facility, where more than 85 cutting-edge technologies have been created or are in development. Among these are safe vaccine vial monitors to warn of spoiling (more than 3.2 billion used); single-use, autodisposable syringes (more than 6 billion distributed); and the Uniject autodisposable injection system (more than 76 million used). With its partners, PATH has developed a safe and affordable vaccine for meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa and is pursuing new vaccines for malaria, pneumonia, rotavirus, and other diseases.PATH empowers people to achieve their full potential. The organization currently works in the areas of health technologies, maternal and child health, reproductive health, vaccines and immunization, and emerging and epidemic diseases. Bringing new ideas and technologies to the toughest global health challenges, PATH is having a profound impact on the health and quality of life of millions of men, women, and children throughout the world.
BRAC
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2008
effort called BRAC (formerly known as the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee). The country’s entrenched poverty soon shifted his focus to long-term development and empowerment of the poor.Poor rural women as agents of change
BRAC focuses the majority of its activities on poor rural women, recognizing them as change agents for their families and communities. Using micro-finance as one of its core components, BRAC set up small village organizations run by 30 to 40 women. It offered skills training and eventually created commercial enterprises to provide inputs or markets for the goods its beneficiaries produced. The result to date is $9.7 billion in loans, with borrowers worldwide numbering over 5.5 million as of December 2011. BRAC enterprises and investments, including micro-finance, produce revenues to fund about 70 percent of BRAC’s work in Bangladesh, a percentage expected to rise in the coming decade as the organization gradually reduces donor reliance in its home country.Health and education programs
Life-saving health programs delivered by 97,000 trained community health promoters provide more than 110 million people with basic health services and have significantly reduced Bangladesh’s maternal and infant mortality rates.BRAC’s 38,000 primary and pre-primary schools have graduated more than 9.5 million children from disadvantaged backgrounds, most of whom then transitioned into government schools.Forging a new South-to-South development model, BRAC has expanded beyond Bangladesh into other Asian and African countries, beginning in Afghanistan in 2002 and then in Sri Lanka in 2004 following the devastating tsunami. It also has operations in Liberia, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Haiti and the Philippines—along the way, blazing a trail for development organizations around the world.
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Tostan
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2007
illiterate. Using traditional African stories, poems, songs, and theatre, Melching devised a non-formal literacy program for women, which would later grow to serve men and adolescents as well.Breakthrough development in a teaching model
In 1991, Tostan (which means “breakthrough” in the Wolof language) was established, following years of testing and adapting teaching modules with thousands of villagers of varied cultures.A real breakthrough occurred in 1996 when human rights and democracy modules were introduced and became the foundation for all Tostan programs. The human rights-based approach resulted in dramatic changes: ending domestic violence and exploitation of children, empowering women, and honoring the right to health and education for all. It also led to the shattering of a number of harmful cultural traditions—Tostan estimates that more than two million people in seven African countries have been reached by voluntarily public declarations for the abandonment of female genital cutting, child marriages, and forced marriages.Having worked in 10 countries, in 22 languages, Tostan’s educational model has been recognized for its ability to bring about social change, empowering African communities to transform lives.
Women for Women International
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2006
Casualties are civilians. Of those, 75 percent are women and children. This has not happened by accident. Women are targets in many of today’s conflicts. Rape, mutilation, and torture are the tactics of choice.Women for Women International was founded in 1993 in response to the suffering of women in Bosnia and Croatia who had survived rape camps and ethnic cleansing. It later expanded to other war-torn regions, including Afghanistan, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Nigeria, and Rwanda.Connecting women around the world
Individual women are matched with a sponsor who offers both financial and emotional support through a personal exchange of letters. Through a one-year program, these survivors are provided with vocational and business skills training, access to capital, and leadership and rights education.More than 317,000 women have benefited from Women for Women International’s assistance, helping them move beyond their personal tragedies to become social entrepreneurs and active citizens in their communities.
Partners In Health
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2005
From treating disease to addressing root causes
Beyond simply treating diseases, Partners In Health also addressed the conditions of poverty that cause disease. Clean water, housing, food, and education were viewed as just as important as free medicines. Health infrastructures were created where none existed. Community members were trained as health workers so that they can help treat their neighbors.A model for healthcare delivery
The healthcare delivery system established in Haiti was embraced by the international health community as a groundbreaking model for treating complex diseases like HIV/AIDS and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. It has been replicated in the slums of Peru, the civilian and prison populations of Russia, the villages of three of Africa’s poorest countries, and with inner-city poor in the United States. And it has come full circle: Haitian medical personnel are now working and training colleagues in Rwanda, Malawi, and Lesotho.
Heifer International
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2004
Beyond temporary relief and aid
Dan West, an Indiana farmer, was a volunteer relief worker handing out a meager cup of milk a day to orphans and other victims of the Spanish Civil War. Moved by their plight, he decided these people should have cows so they could produce their own milk and not have to depend on temporary aid. From that simple idea, Heifer International was born.Passing on the Gift
Heifer has partnered with 15 million families in 125 countries around the world to improve their quality of life. A cornerstone of Heifer’s philosophy is “Passing on the Gift”. Each recipient family is required to provide offspring of their animals to another poor family—and this family then does the same—on and on until an entire community is able to lift itself out of poverty. Lasting self-reliance for families and sustainability for the environment are the end results.From Appalachia to Zambia, millions of hungry and impoverished families have been directly affected by Heifer’s work.
I R C T
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2003
political control designed to stifle dissent through terror. Prior to the 1970s, little was known about torture methods or the physical or psychosocial consequences for its victims.Medical treatment and rehabilitation for survivors of torture
The first medical group to begin diagnosing torture victims was established in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1974, and doctors from 34 countries soon joined. In 1982, the first rehabilitation center for torture victims was opened in Copenhagen to research and document torture techniques and to identify methods to treat torture survivors. By 1985, this organization evolved into the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims.Multidisciplinary support and advocacy beyond medical aid
Every year, IRCT centers and programs provide some 105,000 torture survivors and their families with multidisciplinary support, including medical and psychological care and legal aid, enabling them to resume as full a life as possible.
SOS Children’s Villages
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2002
Creating families, homes, and villages for children
SOS Children’s Villages (SOS-Kinderdorf International) was founded in Austria in 1949 in response to the needs of children in the aftermath of World War II. Its vision is that every child deserves a family—a mother, brothers and sisters, a home, and a village.As the emotional center of the family, mothers receive extensive training in child development and are supported by education specialists and other professionals. Biological siblings are never separated, and family ties are built to last a lifetime.Impact beyond villages
SOS has created nearly 500 villages and 400 youth facilities in 132 countries, and today raises more than 73,000 children. Strengthening families beyond its villages, the organization has built 231 kindergartens, 185 schools, 65 medical centers, 575 social centers, and 61 vocational training centers.
St Christopher’s Hospice
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2001
Care for the dying
The movement’s inspiration was Dame Cicely Saunders OM, DBE, FRCP, FRCN, who became a doctor to fulfill her lifetime mission to change existing medical and social attitudes about the care of the dying. Her groundbreaking work in pain management for the dying proved pain could be prevented, not just managed, and this became a cornerstone of hospice care.A model of compassionate palliative care
St Christopher’s model of compassionate palliative care—providing emotional, spiritual, and social support, along with expert nursing and medical care—has elevated and transformed the lives of the terminally ill. The needs of both patients and those close to them are addressed as a “unit of care.”Dame Cicely Saunders died peacefully at age 87 on July 14, 2005, at the hospice she founded.
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize Laureates (2000 ~ 1996)
Casa Alianza
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize 2000
Casa Alianza (Spanish for “Covenant House”) operates in Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala. In each of these countries, children and teenagers face extraordinary risks. Extreme poverty, violence, abuse, and exploitation force children away from their homes and onto the streets.Once homeless, these children become an easy target for the growing market of sexual and commercial exploitation, and for rampant gang and organized crime violence. Also, once children find themselves on the streets, highly addictive and harmful substances provide an attractive refuge from their pain.Advocating for at-risk children and youth in Latin AmericaCasa Alianza is the home, the voice, and the future of homeless, abused and trafficked children and teenagers in Central America and Mexico.Casa Alianza Builds Brighter FutureCasa Aliazna offers comprehensive care and services that are designed to address the poverty, violence, and lack of opportunity causing thousands of children to flee from their countries, and offers an open door to children and teens. More than a safe place to sleep, Casa Alianza’s teams of professionals offer all of the services a child might need to reclaim their life and succeed in the world, including medical attention, legal support, education, life skills, traditional and alternative therapies, and employment preparation. All of this care is provided in an atmosphere of absolute respect and unconditional love – the core of the Covenant House mission.The result? Every year, hundreds of young people are removed from a cycle of poverty and violence, to transform their lives and become active, participating citizens.
Amref Health Africa
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize1999
Building the capacity of African healthcare
Amref Health Africa’s strategies emphasize advocacy, capacity building, and research. The organization has led efforts to rebuild healthcare systems decimated by war and created new ones where none existed before.With a staff that is 97 percent African, Amref Health Africa is committed to the premise that only Africans can lead Africa into the 21st century.
Doctors Without Borders
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize1998
Today, MSF provides independent, impartial assistance in nearly 70 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe, primarily due to armed conflict, epidemics, malnutrition, exclusion from health care, or natural disasters.MSF’s work is based on the humanitarian principles of medical ethics and impartiality. The organization is committed to bringing quality medical care to people in crisis regardless of their race, religion, or political affiliation.
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International Rescue Committee
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize1997
Recipient of the 1997 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) responds to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives. At work in over 40 countries and 25 U.S. cities to restore safety, dignity and hope, the IRC leads the way from harm to home.Aid for refugees and displaced populations
The International Rescue Committee aids refugees and internally displaced persons—80 percent of whom are women and children—and advocates for the world’s most vulnerable populations. The organization is at work in more than 40 countries, distributing lifesaving aid, rebuilding devastated communities, establishing schools and training teachers, caring for war-traumatized children, rehabilitating healthcare systems, restoring lost livelihoods, reuniting families, strengthening the capacity of local aid groups and institutions, and supporting good governance initiatives in post-conflict locations. For refugees unable to return home and admitted to the U.S., IRC’s resettlement program helps them rebuild their lives in 22 cities across the United States.A leader in emergency aid
Founded in 1933, the IRC is a recognized leader in humanitarian emergencies. When thousands flee war, repression, or natural disaster the IRC is immediately on the ground to make sure lifesaving help gets to those who need it. The IRC also strives to ensure the dignity of people while they live in exile.The IRC continually ranks among the top charitable organizations for efficient financial management, with 90 cents of every dollar going to refugee assistance.
Operation Smile
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize1996
Every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft. One in 10 of those children will die before their first birthday. Those who survive often cannot eat or speak properly. Too often, they are shunned, hidden away and not able to attend school. In developing countries, many parents cannot afford the surgery their children desperately need.Operation Smile was founded in 1982 by Dr. William P. Magee, Jr., a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Kathleen, a nurse, and clinical social worker. Since its founding, Operation Smile has provided more than 2 million comprehensive healthcare evaluations and over 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults born with facial deformities.Operation Smile also operates 13 Comprehensive Care Centers worldwide. These medical facilities offer year-round patient care including surgery and the myriad of specialties related to cleft care such as ENT and dental treatment, speech pathology, and nutrition counseling.More than 5,000 medical professionals from over 80 countries around the world volunteer with Operation Smile. Through Operation Smile’s Global Standards of Care, the organization ensures every patient cared for benefits from the same sophisticated equipment, procedures and highly-trained medical teams, no matter where they receive treatment.