UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced that Dr. Angela Merkel, the former Federal Chancellor of Germany, will receive the 2022 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award.
Key points
- Each year, the award – named after the Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen – is given to an individual, group or organization who has gone above and beyond the call of duty to protect refugees, internally displaced or stateless people.
- Under Angela Merkel leadership, Germany welcomed more than 1.2 million refugees and asylum seekers in 2015 and 2016 – at the height of the conflict in Syria and amid deadly violence in other places.
- The UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award selection committee has also honoured four regional winners for 2022: Mbera Fire Brigade (Africa), Vicenta González (Americas), Meikswe Myanmar (Asia and the Pacific) and Dr. Nagham Hasan (Middle East and North Africa).
