Dr. Evan Atar Adaha speaks after accepting the 2018 Nansen Refugee Award. © UNHCR/Mark Henley
The South Sudanese doctor, Evan Atar Adaha, was chosen for his 20-year commitment to providing medical services to people forced to flee conflict and persecution in Sudan and South Sudan, as well as to the communities that welcome them. Dr. Atar runs the only functional hospital in Upper Nile State, an area larger than Ireland. Located in the town of Bunj, in Maban County, it serves more than 200,000 people, including 144,000 refugees from Sudan.
Presenting the Nansen award in Geneva’s Bâtiment des Forces Motrices, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that most of the doctor’s patients were refugees and he had lived through displacement himself, after fighting forced him to close his first hospital in Kurmuk, Sudan. In addition, he embodied “not only solidarity, but courageous solidarity” with his refugee patients, “two commodities that are very scarce in today’s world.”
Originally from Torit, a town in southern South Sudan, Dr. Atar studied medicine in Khartoum, Sudan, and afterwards practised in Egypt. In 1997, as war ravaged Sudan’s Blue Nile State, Dr. Atar volunteered to work there. In 2011, increasing violence forced him to pack up his hospital and flee with his staff and as much equipment as he could transport, a journey that took a month. In his acceptance speech, Dr. Atar said “However, this award is not for me as an individual. The award is for my team back in Maban.”
The keynote speaker at the event, actor Cate Blanchett, who is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, earlier told the audience: “It is a formalised way of saying ‘thank you’ to one person specifically, but more importantly, it carries with it the inexpressible thanks to all who work in the humanitarian fields – often at great personal cost.” Blanchett concluded: “People like Dr. Atar inspire us to build a better future for everybody.”
The event was hosted by South African actress and advocate for UNHCR’s LuQuLuQu campaign Nomzamo Mbatha. She introduced the evening’s performers including Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar, Syrian dancer and choreographer Ahmad Joudeh and Norwegian singer Sigrid.
British radio and television presenter Anita Rani hosted a Facebook Live stream of the ceremony on the UNHCR Facebook page.
For last yer’s award see: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2017/10/01/ceremony-of-the-2017-nansen-medal-for-nigerian-zannah-mustapha-on-line-2-october/
Fo more on this and other awards in the refugee world: http://trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/unhcr-nansen-refugee-award
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 