Angela Merkel: Former German Chancellor wins UN refugee agency award

The former German chancellor Angela Merkel will receive the 2022 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award. The announcement was made by the UN Refugee Agency on October 4, 2022.

Merkel will be awarded the UN refugee agency prize for ‘political courage” and decisive action taken during her tenure to safeguard people forced to flee. UNHCR in a tweet said that “Former Federal Chancellor of Germany Dr. Angela Merkel is the global laureate of the 2022 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award”. 

🔷 Dr. Angela Merkel is the 2022 #NansenAward global laureate for her political courage, compassion and decisive action as Federal Chancellor of Germany to protect people forced to flee. pic.twitter.com/GGiFxBWD5q

— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) October 4, 2022

UNHCR refugee agency award: Significance

1. Merkel has been honoured for her determination to protect asylum seekers and to stand for human rights.
2. She displayed great moral and political courage helping more than a million refugees to survive and rebuild.
3. Merkel has been awarded for her leadership in strengthening Germany’s global humanitarian role.

Who is Angela Merkel?

1. Angela Dorothea Merkel was born on July 17, 1954 in Hamburg and moved to East Germany. 
2. Merkel completed her doctorate in quantum chemistry and entered politics with the rise of revolutions of 1989.
3. She has been a German former politician and scientist who worked as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021.
4. Being a member of the Christian Democratic Union, she has also worked as Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005.
5. Merkel has also been the leader of the Christian Democratic Union from 2000 to 2018.
6. Angela was the first woman chancellor of Germany and during her tenure she was referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union.

Who else will get honoured by the UN agency?

Besides Merkel, four other organisations and individuals will also be awarded worldwide. The award will be given to those who have gone beyond to protect refugees and other people forced to flee. UNHCR Nansen Award 2022 went to Mbera Fire Brigade, an all-volunteer firefighting group in Mauritania led by Ahmedou Ag Albohary. The regional award for the Americas was given to a women’s rights advocate and activist, Vicenta Gonzalez whose cacao cooperative in Costa Rica empowers asylum-seeking and local women. Nansen Award for Asia and the Pacific was given to Meikswe Myanmar, a humanitarian organisation. Dr. Nagham Hasan, a gynaecologist from Iraq who helps Yazidi women was the winner of the Middle East and North Africa region.

Nicole Mann: First Native American woman astronaut in space