ARMINFO News Agency, Armenia
December 1, 2017 Friday


Ambassador Samantha Power Joins the Aurora Prize Selection Committee

Yerevan December 1

Marianna Mkrtchyan. Today, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
announces Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Samantha Power as the newest member of the Aurora Prize for Awakening
Humanity Selection Committee. As a part of the Selection Committee,
Ambassador Power will join the other esteemed humanitarians, human
rights activists and former heads of state to determine future
recipients for the annual $1.1 million Aurora Prize.

"We are very excited to welcome Ambassador Power to the Aurora Prize
Selection Committee. With her notable experience on the world stage,
she has made great strides in aiding those in the developing world and
standing up for the most vulnerable members of our global community,"
said Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.
"With her unparalleled expertise in human rights around the world, we
are honored that she will review Aurora Prize nominations and help
shape the future of the Aurora Prize."

Ambassador Samantha Power served as the 28th U.S. Permanent
Representative to the United Nations and as a member of President
Obama's cabinet, and became known as one of the country's foremost
thinkers on foreign policy. Prior to her work at the United Nations,
she served on the U.S. National Security Council as Special Assistant
to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and
Human Rights, where she focused on atrocity prevention, United Nations
reform, LGBT and women's rights and the promotion of religious
freedom, among other issues. She also authored the Pulitzer
Prize-winning book, "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of
Genocide." Given her influential work in human rights and democracy,
she has been recognized several times over, including as one of TIME's
"100 Most Influential People" and Foreign Policy's "Top 100 Global
Thinkers."

"The Aurora Prize and its laureates recognize that, while it is
essential to remember past atrocities, we each have the power to
assist those who are saving lives in the present," said Ambassador
Power. "I take great pride in being part of the Prize's Selection
Committee, which seeks to honor those who make great sacrifices to
help others, and who find a way to mobilize human kindness and
persevere amid steep odds." She will join current Aurora Prize
Selection Committee members Nobel Laureates Oscar Arias, Shirin Ebadi
and Leymah Gbowee; former president of Ireland Mary Robinson; former
president of Mexico Ernesto Zedillo; human rights activist Hina
Jilani; Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at
Imperial College London Lord Ara Darzi; President Emeritus of the
International Crisis Group and former foreign minister of Australia
Gareth Evans; Medecins sans Frontieres Founder Bernard Kouchner;
President of Carnegie Corporation of New York Vartan Gregorian; and
Academy Award-winning actor and humanitarian George Clooney The Aurora
Prize, now in its third year, was founded on behalf of the survivors
of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors. The
Selection Committee will convene in Berlin, Germany on December 4,
2017 to review nominations from this year's process, which gathered
750 submissions from 115 countries. Concurrent to their meeting in
Berlin, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative will host its first Aurora
Dialogues outside of Armenia, titled "Millions on The Move: Need for
Development and Integration." The Aurora Dialogues Berlin is a joint
effort of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, Global Perspectives
Initiative, Robert Bosch Stiftung and Stiftung Mercator, and will be
held on December 4-5, 2017. Speakers will address the state of the
global migration crisis and look at the role of different actors in
advancing positive change.

The 2018 Aurora Prize finalists will be announced on April 24, 2018,
the day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The Aurora
Prize, established on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide
and in gratitude to their saviors, provides the laureate with a
$100,000 grant and the opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by
nominating organizations to receive a $1,000,000 award. The third
annual Prize will be announced on June 10, 2018, at a ceremony in
Armenia.