Migrants Organise and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, will host the eighth annual Women on the Move Awards at the WOW – Women of the World festival on 8thof March 2019.
Nominations are now open for the four award categories: Woman of the Year, Young Woman of the Year, Champion Award, and the Sue Lloyd-Roberts Media Award.
Please nominate migrant and refugee women, the people who champion them, and the journalists who tell their stories, who are deserving of recognition. To nominate for the 2019 Awards or to find out more, visit womenonthemoveawards.org.
Across the UK, migrant and refugee women are smashing stereotypes, breaking boundaries and connecting communities. Often fleeing war and persecution, overcoming significant personal challenges, and facing hostile immigration policies, they use positivity and inventiveness to lead and inspire social change that benefits us all. The Women on the Move Awards (WOMA) celebrate the courageous and powerful women who conduct this ground-breaking work – often without infrastructure, remuneration or acknowledgement.
Presented by Migrants Organise and UNHCR, and hosted by BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the Awards take place at London’s Southbank Centre as part of the WOW – Women of the World festival, a global initiative involving over a million people across five continents. The Awards provide a platform for winners, recognising their work and raising their profile. They also provide women with high-quality leadership development opportunities and a donation to support their initiatives.
The legacy of the awards also goes beyond the ceremony, contributing to a more positive discourse on migration and shifting the conversation from one about ‘victims’ to one of shared humanity and community. Woman of the Year 2018, Florence Kahuro said:
‘Winning this award has made a huge difference: I’ve got new confidence, visibility and motivation to challenge injustice and act for change.”
‘Unusual suspects’ who go above and beyond in their work to benefit migrant and refugee women in the UK are also recognised via The Champion Award, while the Sue Lloyd-Roberts Media Award recognises the journalists whose reporting powerfully highlights refugee and migrant voices or helps catalyse positive change in migration policy or perception.
Nominations for the four awards categories will be accepted until 5pm on Monday 15thOctober, 2018. Please visit womenonthemoveawards.org for more information and to submit your nominations, or contact womensawards@migrantsorganise.org
Women on the Move Awards 2019 – Award Categories
Woman of the Year Award – The Woman of the Year Award celebrates the migrant women who are leading outstanding grass-roots work which inspires positive change and helps create a society that is fairer for us all.
Young Woman of the Year Award – The Young Woman of the Year Award celebrates the inspiring work of migrant women age 30 or under.
Champion of the Year Award – The Champion Award honours those who are carrying out pioneering work to protect and uplift the rights of migrant and refugee women in the UK.
Sue Lloyd-Roberts Media Award – Named after the pioneering journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts, the Media Award recognises the outstanding work of journalists and producers who have used their media platform to showcase an accurate and powerful presentation of migration and to amplify the voices of migrant and refugee women.
About the Women on the Move Awards
The Women on the Move Awards were founded by the Chief Executive of Migrants Organise, Zrinka Bralo. After being presented with an award by the Women’s Refugee Commission in New York for her work with refugees, Zrinka was inspired to establish an equivalent here in the UK, to highlight the ground-breaking work that other refugee and migrant women carry out day in, day out, often without infrastructure, financial remuneration or acknowledgment. Since 2012, via a unique annual ceremony, the Women on the Move Awards has celebrated the vital contributions that refugee and migrant women are making to communities across the country.
In 2018, Florence Kahuro and Veecca Smith Uka won the Woman of the Year Award for their work advocating for the rights of vulnerable families living in asylum accommodation in Halifax. Shrouk El-Attar, a young Egyptian refugee and winner of the Young Woman of the Year, was recognised for her tireless campaigning for the right to higher education for asylum-seekers and on LGBTI+ issues. The Champion Award was presented to The Bike Project, founded by Jem Stein, which has fixed up and donated second-hand bikes to more than 3,000 refugees and asylum-seekers. The Sue Lloyd-Roberts Award went to journalist Manveen Rana for her BBC Radio 4 series following a Syrian refugee family over the course of their journey to Europe.
Previous winners of the Women on the Move Awards include politician and former child refugee Lord Alfred Dubs, foreign correspondent Christina Lamb, and documentary photographer Giles Duley. A number of high profile individuals have previously participated in the Women on the Move Awards ceremony including Gwendoline Christie (Star Wars, Game of Thrones), Mercury Prize-nominated singer/song-writer Laura Mvula, and singer and campaigner Annie Lennox, OBE. The Awards have also been supported by individuals such as actor Juliet Stevenson; writer and broadcaster, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; Channel 4 International News Editor Lindsey Hilsum; and Eco-Age Founder, Livia Firth.
The Women on the Move Awards is presented by Migrants Organise and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency as part of the WOW – Women of the World Festival, founded by artistic director Jude Kelly CBE.
