Call for Nominations: The 2018 Global Citizen Award

Global residence and citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners is proud to announce the call for nominations for its fourth annual Global Citizen Award. The award is a tribute to remarkable individuals who are working towards improving and supporting the global community, and whose actions or thinking contribute to a more just, peaceful, and tolerant world, inspiring others to greater heights.

The 2018 laureate will be selected by a nine-member committee and honoured at the Global Citizen Award ceremony, which will mark the conclusion of the annual Henley & Partners Global Residence and Citizenship Conference — held this year in Dubai, UAE, from 4 to 6 November 2018.

The committee is looking for an inspirational individual who demonstrates extraordinary vision, courage, and commitment in contributing to the advancement of a significant and pressing global issue, be it social, political, or environmental. Paola De Leo, Head of Philanthropy for Henley & Partners, says ‘global issues’ as defined by the UN are those that transcend national boundaries and cannot be resolved by any one country acting alone. “The Global Citizen Award is open to those individuals working in a field with a direct link to global issues that require concerted, collaborative action at the global level on the part of governments, international organizations, and civil society, rather than politicians or celebrities. The awardee’s work should not remain purely academic: instead, it needs to have a concrete, positive impact on the lives of vulnerable social groups,” explains De Leo.

The selection process is confidential and is based on a majority decision. The award itself consists of a bespoke sculptural medal, an award certificate signed by the Chairman of the Global Citizen Award Committee, and a monetary prize. The monetary prize has increased this year to USD 30,000, which goes towards supporting the awardee’s humanitarian efforts.

De Leo says Henley & Partners commits itself to working closely with the awardee for a period of one year, raising awareness about the awardee’s work and supporting the selected project through our network of more than 30 offices worldwide. “For our firm, global citizenship is not a concept limited to the freedom of movement and enterprise that many of our clients enjoy. Instead, it encompasses a distinct attitude and careful consideration regarding what is equitable and just, for our planet and its people. The acknowledgement that our world is a complex network of connections and interdependencies empowers us to see that the positive action of one individual can have a significant impact on diverse communities and may contribute to the achievement of durable solutions to our many social challenges,” states De Leo.

Since its inception in 2015, the Global Citizen Award has honoured three worthy recipients. The first laureate was German entrepreneur Harald Höppner, who set up the refugee humanitarian aid project Sea Watch. In 2016, the recipient was Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman, Founder of the Gift of the Givers Foundation, Africa’s largest disaster relief organization. Last year, the award went to Monique Morrow, Co-founder of The Humanized Internet. The Humanized Internet is a digital identity project that aims to bring hope to the estimated 1.1 billion individuals in the world (of whom 230 million are children under the age of five) who cannot prove their legal identity.

Reflecting on the impact of the award, Morrow commented: “For the Humanized Internet, receiving the 2017 Global Citizen Award has affirmed how critical it is to work on ‘billion people’ problems with an ecosystem of partners. The outcomes of this award have allowed us to imagine that the impossible can indeed be possible when we think with a different set of lenses. Thank you to Henley & Partners for opening a door to creating the world we would like to have, not the one we wish to avoid.”

De Leo adds that, “the state of affairs in our world today is, in every sense of the word, warring. We have taken so many strides forward, and yet we have left so many people behind. In times like these, acknowledging and supporting those who are fighting to turn back the tide of injustice and suffering is more important than ever. This is the meaning and the value of the Global Citizen Award.”

The Call for Nominations for 2018 is now closed.