Colombian Mayerlin Vergara Perez is the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Nansen Award for Refugees, for having rescued sexually exploited children for two decades, the United Nations announced Thursday.
The action of Mayerlin Vergara Perez, better known by his nickname Maye, has notably made it possible to change the law in his country, to punish heavier penalties those who facilitate the sexual exploitation of the youngest.
The High Commissioner for Refugees
'
Nansen Award
"honors individuals, groups and organizations whose work goes well beyond their professional obligations to protect refugees, internally displaced persons and stateless persons"
. United Nations refugee agency on its website.
“People like Maye are the best in us.
His courage and selflessness to rescue and protect some of the most vulnerable children is simply heroic, ”
said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, quoted in the press release.
"His unwavering dedication has saved hundreds of refugee lives and given them hope for the future,"
he added.
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Mayerlin Vergara Perez is the Caribbean Regional Coordinator for the Renacer Foundation, which has assisted over 22,000 children.
Speaking of the children she rescues in a UNHCR video, “Maye” highlights their vulnerability:
“They come to us filled with pain, sadness and despair and our home becomes this place, this refuge in which they can be themselves- same ”
.
The award ceremony will be held on October 5, virtually, pandemic requires.
The Nansen Refugee Award was established in 1954 and takes its name from Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen, who served as the first League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 1920 to 1930. Last year, this distinction went to a Kyrgyz lawyer who fought to end the “ghost” status of stateless persons in Kyrgyzstan, Azizbek Ashurov.
He helped his country become the first state in the world to end statelessness, through his organization Ferghana Valley Lawyers Without Borders.
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