OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, present Max van der Stoel Award to Social Justice Center on 24 Nov

THE HAGUE, 21 November 2022 − OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra will present the 2022 Max van der Stoel Award to the Social Justice Center from Georgia. The award ceremony will take place in The Hague, the Netherlands, on Thursday, 24 November.

The Social Justice Center was selected as the winner for its continued efforts to support and empower vulnerable groups, including national minorities, in Georgia. 

According to the Jury, the Social Justice Center works towards long-term political and socio-economic transformation in Georgia, putting the principles of human rights, equality and solidarity into practice. It gives a voice to minority ethnic and religious groups, and supports their interests, with an emphasis on youth and women. It advances equality, solidarity, participation and democracy at the political, economic and social levels through programmes such as its Social Policy Programme, the Equality Policy Programme and the Justice and Democracy Programme. This has resulted in community organizations and campaigns to promote the interests of national minorities.

The Max van der Stoel Award − a prize of €50,000 − has been organized by the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities and sponsored by the Dutch Foreign Ministry every two years since 2003. It is presented to a person, group or institution in recognition of their extraordinary and outstanding achievements in improving the position of national minorities across the OSCE region.

Event material can be found here.

Social Justice Center Equality Policy Programme Director Tamta Mikeladze, Social Justice Center Researcher Kamran Mammadli, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra, and Ambassador of Georgia to the Netherlands David Solomonia will address the event.

The full event programme is available here.

The event is by invitation only. Media representatives who wish to attend the in-person event at the Peace Palace in The Hague on 24 November 2022 starting at 15:30 should send their name, contact details and the name of the media organization they represent to Michelle Pirotta, [email protected], before 15:30 on 23 November.

It will also be possible to follow the ceremony livestream, here:

Follow the discussion on Twitter #MvdSAward.