French embassy - Ambassade de France
| RSSFrench Republic Human Rights Prize 2007: Call for applications
The French Republic’s “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” Human Rights Prize for 2007, awarded by the Prime Minister of France, is open for applications.
1 – Non-governmental organisations from any country are invited to present a field action or a project, carried out in France or in another country, relating to one of the two themes below chosen for 2007:
Theme 1: Combating human trafficking
Every year, more than 700,000 people around the world fall into the hands of human traffickers. Human trafficking is a modern form of slavery, which violates the dignity and value of the human person, and fundamental human rights, such as the rights to life, freedom and security of the person, the prohibition of servitude and forced labour, as well as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. There are many legal instruments, at the international, regional and national levels, but they are insufficient to tackle this highly complex transnational problem.
In light of the above, non-governmental organisations play a crucial role in combating human trafficking. The projects submitted by NGOs should relate to prevention and protecting people from trafficking. They may be prevention programmes targeting vulnerable people, campaigns to raise the awareness of public authorities, economic actors and civil society, legal action and protection for victims and their families, programmes of social and legal support, and rehabilitation of victims of trafficking. or,
Theme 2: Freedom of opinion, expression and information
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” (Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Freedom of opinion, expression and information is one of the pillars of a democratic society, founded on pluralism, tolerance and open-mindedness. However, there are countless violations of that fundamental freedom, which take various and extremely serious forms: censorship, arrests, prosecution, threats, forced disappearances, or attacks on the life of men and women.
The prizes will be awarded for actions and programmes that aim at upholding freedom of opinion, expression and information in any of the media – print, radio, television, and multimedia, especially the Internet. They may be training programmes or public education programmes on the right to information, measures to defend or protect people and relatives of people who are threatened, censored or arrested (legal, social or other support). The actions of NGOs may also contribute to alerting international public opinion to the scale of violations of freedom of opinion, expression and information, to encourage those freedoms and to act to uphold them.
2 – Five winners will share the €75,000 prize awarded by the Prime Minister. The next five winners will be entitled with a “special mention”. Applications must comply with the prize rules. A copy of the prize regulations may be obtained on request. They are also posted on the following website: www.cncdh.fr
3 – Applications should be complete in French and include:
a) a letter application from and signed by the chairman or legal representative of the
operating NGO;
b) a file, setting out the purpose and a detailed description of the project submitted. It must
include a precise budget (preferably with equivalents in euros);
c) a description of the operating NGO (articles of association, completed projects, etc.);
d) the NGO’s postal address and bank account details.
Candidates for the prize must transmit their application file in its entirety before the
expiry date of 15 October 2007 to:
Secrétariat Général de la Commission Nationale Consultative des Droits de l’Homme
35, rue Saint-Dominique
75007 Paris
France
or by email to: 
4 – The panel will announce the results on 16 November 2007. The 2007 prize will be awarded by the Prime Minister at an official ceremony in Paris around 10 December 2007.
- Terms and conditions