The North-South Centre of the Council of Europe awarded the North-South Prize 2016 to Giuseppina Nicolini, mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa from 2012 to June 2017, and to the Tunisian parliamentary Mbarka Brahmi, founder of the “Centre Brahmi for the peace and the solidarity”. Since 1995, the prize has been awarded every year to two public personalities, one from the “North” and the other from the “South”, who have excelled in their commitment to protect human rights, support pluralistic democracy and raise awareness of the public opinion on the interdependence of our societies and the global solidarity.
The jury decided to award Giusi Nicolini for “her commitment in the reception of migrants and the defence of refugees’ rights, through lobbying activities with the Italian authorities and the European Union, in order to obtain appropriate support and assistance”.
Unfortunately Giuseppina Nicolini could not attend the award ceremony at the end of May in the Portuguese Parliament that was attended by the President of the Portuguese Republic, the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Portuguese Minister of Culture as well as by the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni.
