The 2020 Nelson Mandela Prize, which is awarded every five years and recognises those who dedicate their lives to the service of humanity, has this year been awarded to Marianna Vardinoyannis, of Greece, and Doctor Morissanda Kouyaté, of Guinea.
The President of the General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, made the announcement over the weekend.
An in-person award ceremony will take place later on in the year at the UN Headquarters in New York.
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Vardinoyannis is a Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO and the founder and president of two foundations dedicated to children: “Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation”, of the “ELPIDA (HOPE) Friends’ Association of Children with cancer” and of the “Orama ELPIDAS” Association.
She has been involved in the fight against child cancer for some 30 years and thanks to her work, thousands of children have been cured.
Notably, the ELPIDA association was instrumental in setting up the first bone marrow transplant unit in Greece in 1999 and the country's first oncology hospital for children in 2010.
Inspired by motherhood, she has built up an extensive record of humanitarian work for the benefit of children and disadvantaged social groups in Greece and abroad, as well as on issues of peace, education, health and cultural heritage.
Her foundation also supports programmes for the medical care of refugee children and other vulnerable social groups, human rights education, programmes, and the fight against human trafficking.
