[psych-hr] Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award--now accepting nominees

ROBERT F. KENNEDY HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD
SELECTION PROCESS PRINCIPLES

The nomination period for the 2004 award cycle opened on January 1st

The nomination deadline for the 2004 RFK Human Rights Award is April 15th,
2004

In every region of the world, there are men, women and children whose
rights are consistently and deliberately denied. In the face of ostracism
by their communities, the censure of their colleagues, government
retaliation, threats, harassment, persecution, isolation, torture and
death, there are people who are moved to act on behalf of justice, to
alert the world to human rights violations, and to work to advance the
cause of human rights within their countries. The Robert F. Kennedy Human
Rights Award seeks to identify and honor these people who embody Robert
Kennedy's belief in the power of individual efforts to overcome injustice.

The mission of the RFK Center for Human Rights is to support the human
rights work of the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award laureates. The
Center develops and carries out projects that enhance and complement the
work of the laureates and that promote respect for human rights in their
countries. The Center responds quickly to urgent situations and initiates
long-term projects to address chronic human rights issues. The Center
gives the laureates and their fellow human rights defenders valuable
strategic and technical support designed to increase the impact of their
work.

Eligibility

Persons working to promote and protect human rights of any race, creed,
religion, nationality, gender or sexual orientation are eligible for the
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

Those working within their own country's social change process and who
have worked strategically and effectively to address serious human rights
problems are given the highest priority.

Qualifications

1) The laureate does not need to be widely known. Ordinary individuals are
often made extraordinary by circumstances and principles. Working locally
or in obscurity often requires particularly great courage.

2) The laureate should have an established reputation for integrity,
creativity and commitment to principles of human rights.

3) The activists should be associated with or perhaps lead a
non-governmental organization which is a major contributor to a social
movement working to achieve a specific social change.

Cash Prize

Each year, a total cash prize of U.S. $ 30,000 will be given to the
individual selected to receive the Award. While it is preferable that one
individual is given the award, if more than one recipient is selected in a
year, the cash prize will be divided equally among the recipients.

Award Ceremony

The Award ceremony will be held in Washington, D.C., on a date in November
as close as possible to November 20, the birthday of Robert F. Kennedy.
When recipients are unable to travel to the United States to receive the
Award, the ceremony will take place and an appropriate representative will
accept the Award on behalf of the recipient. In such cases, the Center for
Human Rights will make a recommendation to the Board of the Memorial as to
whether a delegation should be constituted to attempt to present the Award
to the recipients in their home countries during the year following the
Award ceremony.

Procedures for Nomination

1) The Center for Human Rights will seek nominations from the members of
the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award International Advisory Committee
(IAC) and from a wide spectrum of individuals likely to know of appropriate
candidates. The nomination forms will also be available on the RFK Memorial
web site. The judges may consider all nominations; the Center for Human
Rights will identify for the judges those nominations, including
unsolicited nominations that are received from people who are not IAC
members. While the judges may not nominate candidates for the Award, they
may, before their first meeting, renominate candidates who were nominated
but not selected in the previous year.

2) There is no limit to the number of nominations an individual can make,
but no self-nominations will be accepted.

3) The Center for Human Rights will request and collect nominations and
assemble supporting materials for presentation to the judges. Those
nominations clearly not falling within the established criteria will not be
presented to the judges.

Selection Process

1) The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award judges shall select recipients
of the Award.

2) There will be five judges whose sole responsibility is to select the
laureates. The staff of the RFK Center for Human Rights will submit a
nomination for a judge each year to the Executive Committee of the Board of
Directors of the RFK Memorial. The Executive Committee will either approve
the nomination or request another candidate. One judge shall be a member of
the Board of the Memorial. Judges will serve five-year terms that may be
renewed one time at the discretion of the Board of the Memorial.

3) The emphasis of the Award is on the power of individual moral courage to
stop injustice and to advance the cause of human rights. While the judges
may select, when appropriate, a group or more than one individual to
receive the Award, the Board of the Memorial strongly reaffirms its
judgment that the selection of an individual best reflects and advances the
values for which the Award was established. Nominees other than those
selected as recipients will remain confidential; there will be no public
identification of finalists or of an honor roll of selected nominees.

4) There are no limitations on factors the judges may consider. The Board
of the Memorial recognizes the prestige of the Award, the value to the
laureates' work of the cash prize, and the importance to the laureates of
the Center's commitment to devote time and resources to work that supports
or complements their efforts. The Board encourages the judges to consider
the potential impact of the Award in enhancing and advancing the nominees'
work. The judges should consider the Center's capacity to implement a
meaningful collaborative program with the nominee, the potential of the
Center's work to advance the laureates' causes, and the impact that
selection of a particular nominee may have on the resources and work of the
Center.

** The nomination deadline for the 2004 RFK Human Rights Award is April 15,
2004 **


To access the nomination form, go to
http://www.rfkmemorial.org/human_rights/nomination_form.htm


For more information, contact:

Amanda Shanor
Program Associate
Robert F.Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights
1367 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20036
202-463-7575 x.224
shanor@rfkmemorial.org



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