# List of human rights awards

This list of human rights awards is an index to articles about notable awards given for the promotion of human rights. These are moral principles or social norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights in municipal and international law. The list is organized by region and country of the main sponsoring organizations, but many of the awards are open to people or organizations from other countries and regions.

## International

| Country | Award | Sponsor | Given for |
| International | UNESCO/Bilbao Prize for the Promotion of a Culture of Human Rights | UNESCO | Institutions, organizations and individuals that have made a particularly important and effective contribution to the promotion of a culture of human rights at regional and international levels |
| International | United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights | United Nations | Individuals and organizations in recognition of outstanding achievement in human rights |

## Africa

| Country | Award | Sponsor | Notes |
| Libya | Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights | General People's Congress (Libya) | International personalities, bodies or organizations that have distinctively contributed to rendering an outstanding human service and has achieved great actions in defending Human rights, protecting the causes of freedom and supporting peace everywhere in the world |
| South Africa | Vera Chirwa Awards | The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria | Need to demonstrate dedicated human rights activism, leadership in the field of human rights and democratisation affecting Africa and Africans; contribute to a specific human rights cause or causes, and demonstrate commitment to improving the lives of people everywhere in Africa |
| African sub-regional network | Shield Awards | The Pan-African Human Rights Defenders Network | Honors exceptional individuals who have contributed to changes in their community by peacefully promoting and protecting human rights, as universally recognised by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights |
| Ethiopia | Annual Human Rights Defender Award | Ethiopian Human Rights Defenders Center | Recognizes the situations of human rights defenders in Ethiopia and highlight the risks they face in their daily lives as well as , the award enhance the award recipient’s human rights activities. The recipient must follow a peaceful approach and must work from a deep personal interest to help others. |

## Americas
### Canada

| Award | Sponsor | Given for |
| John Humphrey Freedom Award | International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development | Exceptional achievement in the promotion of human rights and democratic development |
| The Wolf Award | The Wolf Project | Efforts to improve racial tolerance and understanding |

### United States

| Award | Sponsor | Given to/for |
| Four Freedoms Award | Roosevelt Institute for American Studies | Commitment to the principles which US President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed on January 6, 1941, as essential to democracy: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear |
| Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights | President of the United States | American promoters of rights in the United States |
| AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility | American Association for the Advancement of Science | Exemplary actions, often taken at significant personal cost, that have served to foster scientific freedom and responsibility and increased scientific awareness throughout the world |
| Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage | Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation | Individuals who, like Mayor Ivan Allen Jr., stand up for moral principles and render service to humanity without regard for personal or professional peril |
| Brandeis Medal | University of Louisville | Commitment to the ideals of individual liberty, concern for the disadvantaged and public service |
| William J. Brennan Award | Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression | (Various awards) |
| Carter–Menil Human Rights Prize | Carter-Menil Human Rights Foundation | Individuals and institutions that promote human rights |
| Civil Courage Prize | The Train Foundation | Draw attention individually to some extraordinary heroes of conscience |
| Courage Award for the Arts | Yoko Ono | Artists, musicians, collectors, curators, writers who sought the truth in their work and demonstrated leadership, courage, resourcefulness in their work, and risked their careers by pursuing a larger vision of the local or national interest despite pressure to succumb to commercial and political constraints |
| Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights | University of Connecticut | Significant effort to advance the cause of international justice and global human rights |
| Free Your Mind | MTV | Sensitize spectators in touchy matters, the social meat and potatoes, human rights violations, of political and civil laws, promoting the environmental protection in the process NGOs as well as individuals which are dealing with the given subject matter |
| Freedom Award | International Rescue Committee | Extraordinary contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom |
| Marcus Garvey Prize for Human Rights | Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League | Distinguished individuals and human right leaders |
| Global Jurist of the Year Award | Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law | Sitting judge who has contributed to the advancement of international human rights law or international criminal law |
| Global Leadership Awards | Vital Voices | International women leaders who are working in the fields of human rights, economic empowerment, or political reform |
| Gruber Prize for Justice | Gruber Foundation | Contributions that have advanced the cause of justice as delivered through the legal system |
| Gruber Prize for Women's Rights | Gruber Foundation | Significant contributions, often at great personal or professional risk, to furthering the rights of women and girls in any area and to advancing public awareness of the need for gender equality to achieve a just world |
| Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award | Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights | Individuals around the world who show courage and have made a significant contribution to human rights in their country |
| Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award | Institute for Policy Studies | Advancing the cause of human rights in the Americas |
| Light of Truth Award | International Campaign for Tibet | NGO aiming for the promotion of democracy and human rights for the Tibetan people |
| George Meany-Lane Kirkland Human Rights Award | AFL–CIO | People and entities that fight for human rights in the field of labor relations |
| Thomas Merton Award | Thomas Merton Center (Pittsburgh) | National and international individuals struggling for justice |
| Philadelphia Liberty Medal | National Constitution Center | Leadership in the pursuit of freedom |
| Reebok Human Rights Award | Reebok | Activists under the age of thirty who fought for human rights through non-violent means |
| Andrei Sakharov Prize (APS) | American Physical Society | Outstanding leadership and/or achievements of scientists in upholding human rights |

## Asia

| Country | Award | Sponsor | Notes |
| Indonesia | Yap Thiam Hien Award | Yayasan Pusat Studi Hak Asasi Manusia | Human rights in Indonesia since 1992 |
| Israel | Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award | Association for Civil Rights in Israel | Advancement of human rights in Israel |
| Israel | Jerusalem Prize | Jerusalem International Book Forum | Writers who promote freedom of the individual in society |
| Philippines | Ka Pepe Diokno Human Rights Award | De La Salle University | Persons or groups who exemplified their commitment to the furtherance of human rights, social justice, and Philippine sovereignty. |
| South Korea | Human Rights Award of Korea | National Human Rights Commission of Korea | Contribution to Korean and international human rights |
| Taiwan | Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award | Taiwan Foundation for Democracy | Contributions through peaceful means to the development of democracy and human rights in Asia |

## Europe

| Country | Award | Sponsor |
| Europe | Raoul Wallenberg Prize | Council of Europe |
| Europe | Film Award of the Council of Europe | Council of Europe |
| Europe | Václav Havel Human Rights Prize | Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe |
| Europe | North–South Prize | North–South Centre |
| Europe | Sakharov Prize | European Parliament |
| Europe | Robert Schuman Medal, EPP Group | European People's Party group |
| Austria | Felix Ermacora Human Rights Award | Felix Ermacora Verein |
| Austria | Bruno Kreisky Prize for Services to Human Rights | Bruno Kreisky Foundation |
| Belgium | Ark Prize of the Free Word | Nieuw Vlaams Tijdschrift |
| Czech Republic | Homo Homini Award | People in Need |
| Denmark | The Inge Genefke Award | Anti-Torture Support Foundation |
| France | Simone de Beauvoir Prize | Simone de Beauvoir prize committee |
| France | Prix Alexis de Tocqueville | Château de Tocqueville |
| France | Ludovic Trarieux International Human Rights Prize | Human Rights Institute of The Bar of Bordeaux etc. |
| France and Germany | Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law | French and German governments |
| Germany | Hannah Arendt Prize | Heinrich Böll Foundation |
| Germany | European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma | Central Council of German Sinti and Roma |
| Germany | Victor Gollancz Prize | Society for Threatened Peoples |
| Germany | Leipzig Human Rights Award | European-American Citizens Committee for Human Rights and Religious Freedom in the USA |
| Germany | Nuremberg International Human Rights Award | Nuremberg City Council |
| Germany | Hanns Martin Schleyer Prize | Hanns Martin Schleyer Foundation |
| Germany | Robert Schuman Prize, Alfred Toepfer Foundation | Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. |
| Germany | Toleranzpreis der Evangelischen Akademie Tutzing | Evangelische Akademie Tutzing |
| Germany | Franz Werfel Human Rights Award | Federation of Expellees |
| Ireland | Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk | Front Line Defenders |
| Italy | Premio Omelas | Amnesty International |
| Netherlands | Human Rights Tulip | Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands) |
| Netherlands | International Children's Peace Prize | KidsRights Foundation |
| Norway | University of Oslo's Human Rights Award | University of Oslo |
| Norway | Thorolf Rafto Memorial Prize | Rafto Foundation for Human Rights |
| Norway | Andrei Sakharov Freedom Award | Norwegian Helsinki Committee |
| Norway | Stefanus Prize | Stefanus Alliance International |
| Norway | Student Peace Prize | Student Peace Prize Secretariat |
| Romania | Valeriu Boboc Prize | Senate of Romania |
| Spain | Jaime Brunet International Prize | Public University of Navarre |
| Sweden | Anna Lindh Prize | Anna Lindh Memorial Fund |
| Sweden | Olof Palme Prize | Olof Palme Memorial Fund for International Understanding and Common Security |
| Sweden | Right Livelihood Award | Right Livelihood Award Foundation |
| Switzerland | Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders | Amnesty International etc. |
| Switzerland | Giuseppe Motta Medal | Geneva Institute for Democracy and Development |
| United Kingdom | Ambassador of Conscience Award | Amnesty International |
| United Kingdom | Amnesty International UK Media Awards | Amnesty International |
| United Kingdom | Prize For Freedom | Liberal International |
| United Kingdom | Longford Prize | Prison Reform Trust |
| United Kingdom | Anna Politkovskaya Award | Reach All Women in WAR |

## Oceania

| Country | Award | Sponsor | Given for |
| Australia | Human Rights Awards (Australia) | Australian Human Rights Commission | Contribution to Australian society of a wide variety of men and women committed to issues of human rights, social justice and equality |
| Australia | National Indigenous Human Rights Awards | New South Wales parliament | Contribution of Indigenous Australians to human rights and social justice |