Sheikh Sultan to address award ceremony
Winner of Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support will be announced on World Humanitarian Day (August 19), at a live streaming ceremony on The Big Heart Foundation’s social media plaforms
SHARJAH: His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, will virtually address the fourth annual edition of the Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support, SIARA 2020, at 13:00 UAE Time, on Aug.19.
This will be followed by the awarding of Dhs500,000 to the winner of this edition, which will be announced during the live broadcast of the event on all of The Big Heart Foundation, TBHF’S social media plaforms.
Organised by TBHF, a Sharjah-based global humanitarian charity dedicated to helping refugees and people in need worldwide, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, the annually-held awards ceremony honours humanitarian oufits across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
With 242 nominations from 52 countries, the 2020 edition of SIARA will be aired online on all TBHF social media plaforms in keeping with the ongoing global preventative and safety measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19.
Millions around the world can now view the awards ceremony via the link htps://www.youtube.com/user/thebigheartuae.
Held under the patronage of the Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of TBHF and UNHCR Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children, the Dhs500,000 award expanded its scope this year to include entities across the entire African continent. This move seeks to shine a light on how Africa supports more than 26 per cent of the world’s 70.8 million refugees with its limited infrastructure and resources.
Topping the nominations list this year is Jordan with 24 nominees, followed by 19 from the Republic of Kenya and 18 from Uganda. Nigeria comes next with 17 nominees; while the USA and Cameroon have 11 nominations each, and Pakistan is represented by 10 nominations. Britain, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Afghanistan, Turkey, and South Africa account for four to eight nominations each.
Overall, Africa tops the list with 49 per cent of the total nominations closely followed by Asia at 44 per cent. Figures for Europe stand at five percent while other countries worldwide make up the remaining two percent.
SIARA is awarded annually to legally registered non-profit organisations that are working on social and humanitarian programmes/activities for a minimum of a year before the nomination. The nominees are evaluated based on the impact of their work in bringing about tangible benefits to target communities within refugee and displaced-persons operations.
His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, will virtually address the fourth annual edition of the Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support, SIARA 2020, at 13:00 UAE Time, on 19th August, 2020.
This will be followed by the awarding of Dhs500,000 to the winner of this edition, which will be announced during the live broadcast of the event on all of The Big Heart Foundation, TBHF’S social media plaforms.
Organised by TBHF, a Sharjah-based global humanitarian charity dedicated to helping refugees and people in need worldwide, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, the annually-held awards ceremony honours humanitarian oufits across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
With 242 nominations from 52 countries, the 2020 edition of SIARA will be aired online on all TBHF social media plaforms in keeping with the ongoing global preventative and safety measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease, COVID-19.
Millions around the world can now view the awards ceremony via the link htps://www.youtube. com/user/thebigheartuae
Held under the patronage of the Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of TBHF and UNHCR Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children, the Dhs500,000 award expanded its scope this year to include entities across the entire African continent.
This move seeks to shine a light on how Africa supports more than 26 per cent of the world’s 70.8 million refugees with its limited infrastructure and resources.
Topping the nominations list this year is Jordan with 24 nominees, followed by 19 from the Republic of Kenya and 18 from Uganda. Nigeria comes next with 17 nominees; while the USA and Cameroon have 11 nominations each, and Pakistan is represented by 10 nominations. Britain, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Ethiopia, ghana, india, afghanistan, turkey, and south Africa account for four to eight nominations each.
Overall, Africa tops the list with 49 per cent of the total nominations closely followed by Asia at 44 per cent. Figures for Europe stand at five per cent while other countries worldwide make up the remaining two per cent.
SIARA is awarded annually to legally registered non-profit organisations that are working on social and humanitarian programmes/activities for a minimum of one year before the nomination. The nominees are evaluated based on the impact of their work in bringing about tangible benefits to target communities within refugee and displacedpersons operations.
Since the launch of SIARA in 2017, three organisations have been honoured by TBHF and the UNHCR for their key humanitarian contributions in refugee advocacy, support, and community building within Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
In 2019, SIARA recognised the ongoing efforts of Lebanon’s Amel Association International, a pioneering NGO in the Arab world, in implementing humanitarian initiatives and support programmes that have seen more than 1,600,000 interventions in health, education, empowerment, psycho-social support, protection, and livelihood training within the last six years for thousands of people, including Syrian and Iraqi refugees.
The Dignity for Children Foundation in Malaysia was conferred with the Award in 2018 in recognition for its role and commitment towards thousands of families in Sentul, Malaysia, by providing a safe environment for their children’s education.
The Sustainable Development Foundation, Yemen, was honoured at the inaugural edition of SIARA in 2017. Working in the worst affected districts, the foundation has provided essentials such as water, food and shelter, and undertaken education and integration projects as well as mine-clearing missions.
Recently, announcing the launch of a humanitarian COVID-19 response campaign, titled ‘Support Knows No Safe Distance’, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher made a global call for concerted action to intensify efforts to protect marginalised and vulnerable groups from the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sheikha Jawaher said: “Time is of the essence, and a lot can be done in the context of prevention and blocking the path of the virus’ spread through rapid and effective response especially in crowded and ill-equipped refugee setlements.”