Ministry of Foreign Affairs of T

In November 2007, the Dutch Government established the "Human Rights Defenders Tulip," an annual prize to be awarded to a human rights defender with "exceptional moral courage." The purpose of the prize is to increase the visibility of these human rights defenders and by so doing, offer them better protection. The award was presented for the first time on 10 December 2008. For more on the prize, see http://www.humanrightstulip.org.

Since May 2009, my consultancy acts as the Secretariat for the prize. My work includes ensuring the widest possible dissemination of the call for nominations for the prize, reviewing all nominations, carrying out additional research on the nominees, and working with the five-person jury in selecting three finalists whose nominations are submitted to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Prior to this, in January 2008, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned me to work out the modalities of the award. I researched and wrote a fifteen-page report concerning criteria for nominees, the method of publicizing the award and calling for nominations, the assessment process leading to the selection of the winner, the content of the prize, the way the prize would be presented, and the structure for administering the award. I also organize a programme of activities for the winner during his or her visit to The Netherlands to receive the prize. The programme is developed in close consultation with the winner in order to meet his or her specific needs.

With Iranian women's rights activist Shadi Sadr, winner of the 2009 Human Rights Defenders Tulip.