Nominate a candidate for the next International Gender Equality Prize

The call for proposals for the Finnish Government’s International Gender Equality Prize is now open to the public. The prize, which will be awarded for the second time in autumn 2019, can go to a person or organisation working to promote gender equality in an internationally significant way. The award sum for the next prize has been increased to EUR 300,000.

The prize, established in 2017 in honour of the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence, was first awarded to Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, whose life’s work has made her one of the world’s most influential people and an example to many women and girls.

The prize includes a sum of EUR 300,000, which is intended not for the recipients themselves, but is rather directed to a cause that advances gender equality. Chancellor Merkel granted her prize money (EUR 150,000 in 2017) to an NGO working to promote the rights of women and children in Niger. The organisation, SOS Femmes et Enfants Victimes de Violence Familiale, is using the prize money to build a residential shelter for victims of domestic violence in the Nigerien capital of Niamey.

The Government of Finland awards the prize based on the suggestion of an international jury. The members of the jury for 2019 are Pekka Haavisto (chair), Member of Parliament, Eva Biaudet, President of the National Council of Women of Finland, Katja Iversen, President and CEO of Women Deliver, Anneli Jätteenmäki, Member of the European Parliament and first female Prime Minister of Finland, and Dean Peacock, co-founder and Co-Executive Director of South African NGO Sonke Gender Justice.

You can nominate a candidate on the prize website until 31 December 2018 at www.genderequalityprize.fi(Link to another website.). The nomination form must be completed in English.