These women are recognised for their life-changing work with forcibly displaced people around the world.
Five women – a nun, an activist, a social entrepreneur, a volunteer aid worker and an advocate for ending statelessness – have received 2024 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Awards.
The winners highlight the critical role women play in finding solutions to refugee crises.
This year’s global laureate is Sister Rosita Milesi, a Brazilian nun, lawyer and social worker who has dedicated over four decades of her life to championing refugee rights. Her compassion shines through everything she does - whether advocating for refugees, welcoming families or providing shelter, food, and legal aid, her focus is always on offering long-term and meaningful support.
Sister Rosita’s dedication to helping refugees rebuild their lives in Brazil reflects her life-long commitment to providing both immediate assistance and hope for the future.
“I decided to dedicate myself to migrants and refugees. I’m inspired by the growing need to help, to welcome and to integrate refugees,” said Sister Rosita. “I’m not afraid to act, even if we don’t achieve everything we want to.”
Deepti Gurung won the Regional Nansen Refugee Award for Asia and the Pacific after campaigning to reform Nepal’s citizenship laws and prevent statelessness.
Previously under Nepalese law, children could not inherit citizenship from their mothers. Having an absentee father left Deepti’s children without a nationality or access to basic rights and services such as a passport, higher education or formal employment.
“People without citizenship are invisible,” says Deepti. “Citizenship is the door to everything.”
Deepti campaigned to change the law so that her children and others could be citizens through their mothers. Her determination paid off in 2017 when her daughters, Neha and Nikita, gained their citizenship through a court ruling. Since then, Neha has earned a scholarship to study law in the US, and Nikita has completed her undergraduate degree in business administration.
In 2023, Deepti and her family travelled for the first time using their new passports.
“This is what freedom feels like,” she says.
Deepti's advocacy has provided stateless people like her daughters with access to citizenship, allowing those she has helped to embrace a new world of opportunity and equality.
The Nansen Awards also recognised three other regional winners:
The people of Moldova also received an honourable mention for providing hope to millions of Ukrainians forced to flee their homes. Despite facing their own economic challenges, Moldovans met refugees with a warm welcome, providing them with food, shelter and support to heal from the trauma of war and rebuild their lives.
“From the highest level of government to the most ordinary citizens, Moldovans made an essential contribution,” said Igor Calancea, Deputy Head of Regional Emergency Situations in southern Moldova. “As our people say, it is a small country with a big heart.”
Learn more about the winners of the Nansen Refugee Award here.