The 2006-2007 King Baudouin International Development Prize awarded to Front Line

Brussels, 22 January 2007.

The King Baudouin Foundation has awarded the 2006-2007 King Baudouin International Development Prize to Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (Ireland). Front Line is the only international NGO that is exclusively dedicated to the support and protection of human rights defenders, particularly those at risk.

Front Line’s specific aim is to work for the protection of human rights defenders at immediate risk and to provide practical means to improve their security. Since its creation in 2001, Front Line has worked on behalf of more than 600 human rights defenders in over 100 countries. Front Line combines “round-the-clock” practical support with international advocacy, which promotes visibility and the recognition of human rights defenders as a vulnerable group.

As the Selection Committee emphasized when justifying its choice, the 2006-2007 Prize is awarded to Front Line «for the effectiveness of their efforts to combat the isolation faced by human rights defenders around the world, for the support and protection that they offer them and for their continuing advocacy in favour of an international plan of action for human rights, which is an essential condition for development. »

The King Baudouin International Development Prize, which amounts to 150,000 euros, will be presented to Mary Lawlor, the Director of Front Line, on 8 May 2007 at the Royal Palace in Brussels.

The Prize's value goes well beyond the financial support which it represents. As in previous years, the prize-winners will gain international visibility and promotion, particularly with the main agents of development, such as the United Nations and its specialised agencies, the World Bank, the European Union and a number of bilateral development agencies, the world of foundations or international NGOs.

Front Line, a unique contribution

Front Line was founded in 2001. Under the leadership of Mary Lawlor, the former Executive Director of the Irish section of Amnesty International, and Irish entrepreneur Denis O’Brien, the establishment was encouraged by a number of key leaders in the human rights movement. Front Line, an international charitable foundation, is independent and impartial.

For Front Line, a human rights defender is “a person who works, non-violently, for any or all of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. As such, it works on behalf of a very broad spectrum of human rights defenders, not only renowned human rights activists, but also the many “frontline” human rights defenders working at the grassroots level across the world.

Front Line works closely with UN agencies, institutions and the diverse range of civil society organisations involved in the protection of human rights.

Type of action and countries

Front Line operates in more than 100 countries. In 2006 Front Line:

· took up the cases of 196 human rights defenders at risk; · provided security grants totalling €154,651 to 55 individual human rights defenders and organizations; · published reports on the situation of human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Central Asia and Guatemala; · conducted training in security in Guatemala, India, Zimbabwe, Yemen, Belarus, Democratic Republic of Congo and in Jordan for human rights defenders from Syria and Iraq; · undertook missions to meet with human rights defenders in Western Sahara, China, Uganda, Thailand, Nepal and Bahrain; · presented the Front Line Award to Ahmadjan Madmarov of Uzbekistan.

Front Line is able to intervene in high-risk situations thanks to a flexible and rapid response programme. To date the organisation has disbursed more than € 300,000 in grant support to human rights defenders in need of medical, legal and security assistance. Central to Front Line’s work is lobbying international actors on behalf of human rights defenders at risk. In some severe cases Front Line also facilitates the temporary relocation of human rights defenders in immediate danger.

In addition to protection, Front Line’s action also includes networking, training regarding security and managing risks and supporting access to the mechanisms of the UN and other bodies.

Front Line has successfully lobbied the Irish government to set up a pilot scheme that speedily provides temporary humanitarian visas for human rights defenders that are at immediate risk. The foundation also played a key role in the development of and lobbying in favour of the adoption of EU Guidelines for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders during the Irish Presidency in 2004. Front Line has established an EU office in Brussels to press for more effective implementation of these Guidelines.

Three top-class finalists

Since 1980, the King Baudouin International Development Prize (www.kbprize.org) has been awarded every two years by the Board of Governors of the King Baudouin Foundation. Its aim is to acknowledge the work of persons or organisations, which have made a substantial contribution to the development of countries in the southern hemisphere.

To select a winner from among the numerous candidates, the Foundation bases itself on the report drawn up by an independent Selection Committee, which is currently chaired by Professor André Sapir. This year, the Selection Committee had to make a difficult choice in the light of 395 candidates. The Committee particularly wishes to emphasise the quality of the work provided by three of the finalists who were short-listed with Front Line up to the final selection:

· the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (Zimbabwe) organisation, which tries to ensure observance of legislation, next to providing assistance to human rights defenders. As such it confirms every citizen’s right to accessible and credible justice. · Nebahat Akkoc and the KA-MER Foundation (Turkey), an independent organisation that wants to put an end to the exclusion of Turkish women in economic, social, political and cultural life, and which combats the violence that women are often subjected to. · the Ligue Démocratique pour les Droits de la Femme (The Democratic League for Women’s Rights - Morocco), which devotes itself to the emancipation of Moroccan women by providing assistance in the field with its ‘caravan’ system and which pursues a policy of political interpellation regarding women’s rights.

Another typical feature of the King Baudouin International Development Prize lies in the diversity of the candidates rewarded. Since 1980, the list of prize-winners has covered a wide range of fields, ranging from literacy to the education of rural communities, technology transfer, new forms of credit, human rights or fair trade.

The King Baudouin Prize has now become the reference as far as the recognition of positive examples in the area of development is concerned.

For more information about the Prize, previous prize-winners and selection procedures please refer to www.kbprize.org.

Contacts

King Baudouin Foundation: Jean-Paul Collette, collette.j@kbs-frb.be, +32.2.549.02.78 (Brussels) Peter Thesin, thesin.p@kbs-frb.be, +32.2.549.02.56 (Brussels)

Front Line 16 Idrone Lane, Off Bath Place, Blackrock, Co Dublin, Ireland Phone: +353 (0)1 212 3750, E-mail: info@frontlinedefenders.org www.frontlinedefenders.org Andrew Anderson, Deputy Director, +353 87 205 6867 andrewanderson@frontlinedefenders.org

Front Line EU office Square Marie-Louise 72, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium Phone: +32 2 230 93 83, Email: euoffice@frontlinedefenders.org