YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS. Aurora Prize Ceremony has kicked off in Yerevan. “Armenpress” reports famous actor George Clooney, Co-chair of the Selection Committee, will handle the first Aurora Prize to the winner.

The Aurora Prize Selection Committee has previously announced the four Aurora Prize finalists as Marguerite Barankitse, from Maison Shalom and REMA Hospital in Burundi; Dr. Tom Catena, from Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan; Syeda Ghulam Fatima, the General Secretary of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front in Pakistan; and Father Bernard Kinvi, a Catholic priest in Bossemptele in the Central African Republic.

The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity is a new global award that will be given annually to individuals who put themselves at risk to enable others to survive. Recipients will be recognized for the exceptional impact their actions have made on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes, having overcome significant challenges along the way. One of the four finalists, the ultimate Aurora Prize Laureate, will receive a grant of US$100,000 and the chance to continue the cycle of giving by nominating organizations that inspired his or her work for a US$1 million award. 

The Aurora Prize was created by the co-founders of 100 LIVES, Vartan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan, and Ruben Vardanyan.  It is a pioneering global initiative seeking to express gratitude to those who put themselves at risk to save Armenians from the Genocide one hundred years ago. On behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide, the annual Aurora Prize aims to raise public consciousness about atrocities occurring around the world and reward those working to address those issues in a real and substantial manner.