The 2016 Silver Rose Awards edition comes along with four highly political and sensitive choices – by rewarding the representatives of four initiatives and organizations, dealing with some of the most prevailing topics in these times: Press Freedom, Decent Work, Women’s Rights in a highly conflictive region and worldwide Access to Education for All.

The winners this year are:

Journalist Union of Turkey (Türkiye Gazeticiler Sendikasi, TGS), to which we dedicate the Silver Rose for Fundamental Rights. TGS supports jailed journalists and promotes solidarity between journalists in Turkey and abroad – in times, where the debate on Press Freedom is high on the EU’s political agenda and more and more journalists in Turkey and elsewhere face severe threats.

FairWork, a Dutch organisation, fighting for just and decent work conditions and a slavery-free Netherlands. We dedicate our Silver Rose in the area “Together for Social Europe” to this organisation.

Dr. Nagham Nawzat Hasan, an activist and gynecologist from Iraq. Ms Hasan will be awarded for her outstanding work to provide psychological counselling and health screenings to Yezidi (Ezidi) girls and women, who were enslaved in subsequence of the attacks on the Iraqi city of Sinjar (Shingal), committed by the Islamic State (IS) in 2014. She will get our Human Rights Silver Rose.

La ligue de l’enseignement, a French Member of SOLIDAR, which celebrates its 150 years of existence in 2016. The award is given in the category “Building Learning Societies” and honors the engagement of this civic movement for the access of all to education and culture in Europe and worldwide.