(Los Angeles) September 20, 2017 – The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation announced today that the nomination period is now open for the 2018 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. At $2 million, the Hilton Humanitarian Prize is the largest annual humanitarian award in the world presented to a nonprofit organization.
Established in 1996, the Prize is given to an organization, anywhere in the world, judged to have made extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering. The Prize is not only intended to recognize and advance the efforts of the recipient organization, but also to call attention to the worldwide need for humanitarian aid and to encourage others to seek opportunities to lend their support.
“Our hope is that by recognizing deserving nonprofit organizations doing honorable work in the field each year, the Hilton Humanitarian Prize will call attention to the important issues for which those organizations have dedicated their missions,” said Hilton Foundation President and CEO Peter Laugharn. “It is a tremendous honor and opportunity to give the Hilton Humanitarian Prize to such deserving organizations, and we look forward to doing it again in 2018.”
Each year, the Hilton Foundation reviews hundreds of nominations of extraordinary nonprofits across the globe, and an independent, international panel of distinguished jurors makes the final selection after a rigorous vetting process. The 2018 Hilton Humanitarian Prize Jury includes: Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairperson, BRAC; Princess Salimah Aga Khan, International Ambassador for SOS-Kinderdorf International; Gro Brundtland, MD, MPH, Former Director General, World Health Organization and Former Prime Minister of Norway; Hawley Hilton McAuliffe, Director, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation; Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Executive Chairman of Econet Wireless; Mark Rosenberg, MD, MPP, Director, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation; and Ann M. Veneman, Former Executive Director, UN Children’s Fund and Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
“Selecting awardees for the Hilton Humanitarian Prize is a difficult task, but always a rewarding one, in part due to the joy of working alongside a wise group of jurors who bring such probity and judgment to the process,” said Hilton Humanitarian Prize Juror Sir Fazle Hasan Abed. “We learn much from the nominations themselves. The vigorous discussion that follows, weighing the merits of various nominees, opens one’s eyes to the depth, diversity and profound impact of the world’s best humanitarian work.“
Nominations for the 2018 Hilton Humanitarian Prize will be accepted from September 20 – October 18, 2017, and should be submitted through the Hilton Foundation website at https://www.hiltonfoundation.org/humanitarian-prize/nominations.
The 2017 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize was awarded to icddr,b, a global health organization dedicated to solving the most serious health issues facing low- and middle-income countries. Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for more than 50 years, icddr,b has been at the forefront of innovative, low-cost health solutions that have resulted in saving millions of lives globally.