The Global Citizen Award
Created in 2014, the Global Citizen Award is a unique international tribute that honors remarkable individuals working at local level to advance one of the global challenges affecting humanity today. Global issues are defined by the UN as challenges that transcend national boundaries and cannot be resolved by any one country acting alone — they require all segments of society to work together in order to alleviate them.
The Global Citizen Award is open worldwide to those working in a field with a direct link to the issues they are looking to affect and excludes political figures, opinion leaders, and celebrities. The awardee’s work needs to demonstrate a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable social groups.
The laureate is selected through a majority decision by the Global Citizen Award Committee, an independent body of eminent individuals who share a global vision and a personal commitment to contribute to a more just, peaceful, and tolerant world.
The awardee is honored at the Global Citizen Award gala event as part of the annual Henley & Partners Global Citizenship Conference, the world’s largest and most significant conference on investment migration, which takes place in a different country each year.
The award itself consists of a bespoke sculptural medal, an award certificate, and a monetary prize that goes toward supporting the awardee’s humanitarian efforts. Following the award, Henley & Partners and the Andan Foundation are committed to working closely with the awardee for a period of one year, raising awareness about the awardee’s work and supporting their selected project.
2025 Global Citizen Award Nominations
The nomination process for the 2025 Global Citizen Award is now open. We welcome nominations of individuals whose work has a tangible and positive impact in addressing global challenges and fostering international solidarity.
Nominations can be submitted online using the form provided here, or by downloading the form below and send it to gca@henleyglobal.com.
Nominations close on Tuesday, 1 July 2025.
Committee
The annual laureate of the Global Citizen Award is chosen by the award committee, an independent body of distinguished individuals, through a majority decision. The Global Citizen Award Committee is comprised of the following members:
Her Royal Highness Princess Firyal of Jordan
Princess Firyal is a humanitarian, patriot, and philanthropist. She has been a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador since 1992, working in particular on the protection of world heritage, medical research, and children’s education. In 2005, she was appointed a Global Education Ambassador. The princess also serves on the Board of Directors of the United Nations Association and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Rescue Committee for Refugees (IRC).
HE Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Former President of Malta, President of Eurochild
Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was the ninth and youngest president of Malta, a role she assumed after being active in politics for forty years and serving in parliament for sixteen years. Former president Coleiro Preca established a number of entities, including the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society, which nurtures dialogue and fosters a culture of positive peace, as well as the President’s Trust and the Emanuele Cancer Research Foundation. Former president Coleiro Preca is an active member of the Patron’s Council of ‘Missing Children Europe’, the Council of World Women Leaders, and the Women Political Leaders Global Forum Advisory Board. She is also Special Ambassador of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development .
Senator Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam, Secretary of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces, Senate of France
Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam is a French politician and a member of the Senate of France. She is Secretary of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces for the Senate of France and also serves as National Secretary for Cooperation and Francophony for the main center-right French party, Les Républicains. She acts as Vice-Chair of the Senate delegation for Women’s Rights and Equality of Chances.
Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Chairman of Henley & Partners Group
Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, TEP, IMCM, Chairman of Henley & Partners, is considered one of the world’s foremost experts in investment migration and citizenship-by-investment, a field he pioneered. Holding master’s and PhD degrees in law from the University of Zurich, he is a sought-after speaker and advises governments and international organizations. He is the author, co-author, or editor of many publications, including standard works such as the Global Residence and Citizenship Handbook, the Henley & Partners – Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index, and the Switzerland Business & Investment Handbook.
Prof. Dr. Khalid Koser OBE, Executive Director of GCERF, Vice-Chairman of the Advisory Council on Migration, World Economic Forum, Geneva, and Member of the Board of the Andan Foundation
Dr. Khalid Koser is Executive Director of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund. Dr. Koser is also Non-Resident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at the Brookings Institution, Associate Fellow at Chatham House, Research Associate at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Non-Resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, and extraordinary Professor in Conflict, Peace and Security in the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences at the University of Maastricht.
Jim Rogers, Chairman, Rogers Holdings, Singapore
Jim Rogers is an author, financial commentator, adventurer, and international investor. After attending Yale University and Oxford University, he co-founded the Quantum Fund, a global investment partnership. Rogers served as a professor of finance at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and as the moderator of WCBS’s ‘The Dreyfus Roundtable’ and FNN’s ‘The Profit Motive with Jim Rogers’. Rogers has frequently been featured in and contributed to top global media outlets. He has written several books including a chronicle of his 100,000-mile motorcycle journey across six continents, where he analyzed the countries through which he traveled for investment ideas.
Namira Salim, Artist, Polar Explorer, and Virgin Galactic Founder Astronaut, Monaco
Namira Salim is the Founder and Executive Chairperson of Space Trust, a social enterprise that engages world leaders to utilize space as the new frontier towards Space2030, in support of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda. Salim holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and has served as Honorary Ambassador of Tourism for Pakistan and as First Honorary Consul of Pakistan to Monaco. She is also renowned as the first Pakistani to have reached the North and South Poles in 2007/2008, the first Asian to skydive (tandem) over Mount Everest, and the first future space tourist from South Asia and Monaco aboard Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Salim was decorated with a Medal of Excellence by the president of Pakistan in 2011.
Rev. Prof. Dr. Marek Urban CSsR, Professor of Philosophy, Krakow
Dr. Marek Urban is Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow, Poland, which offers graduate degrees in theology, philosophy, and church history. Dr. Urban lectures on the history of modern philosophy and has contributed to many books, publications, and articles. He also has a long-standing association with Henley & Partners’ humanitarian initiatives and has, on various occasions, supported the firm’s activities in this regard.
Medal
The Global Citizen Award medal is the original artwork of leading Italian artist Antonio Nocera, whose sculptures and installations have been exhibited at the Art Biennale in Venice and at the European Parliament in Brussels. Nocera has created masterpieces in collaboration with international institutions such as the European Parliament, UNESCO, and UNICEF and he has also worked extensively for the Vatican City and Pope John Paul II.
Much of Nocera’s work is centered on the inalienable human right to freedom, the desire for spiritual elevation, and the urgent need for change, inherent in every human being. He explores culture as a conduit to achieve freedom from prejudice and to break the chains of ignorance worldwide.
The medal, developed in 2014 for the first edition of the award, evokes the spirit of global citizenship and represents ideas of freedom, migration, and mobility.
Current Laureate
Mohamed Nasheed
The Hon. Mohamed Nasheed, former President of the Maldives and current Secretary-General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Global Citizen Award®. Presented annually by Henley & Partners in partnership with the Andan Foundation, this prestigious accolade honors visionary individuals who have made an extraordinary impact in advancing the lives of vulnerable social groups.
A pioneering human rights activist and a dedicated advocate for climate action, Mohamed Nasheed has been at the forefront of addressing the pressing challenges of climate change, particularly for nations most vulnerable to its devastating effects. As the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives, he introduced transformative policies to combat environmental threats and promote renewable energy, earning international recognition for his visionary leadership.
In his current role as Secretary-General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, representing 70 nations, Mohamed Nasheed continues to lead global efforts to champion climate resilience. His advocacy work and innovative initiatives have influenced international climate policy, driving meaningful change for populations most affected by rising sea levels and extreme weather events.
Henley & Partners and the Andan Foundation are proud to celebrate Mohamed Nasheed’s exceptional contributions to creating a more equitable and sustainable future. His unwavering dedication to safeguarding the planet and advocating for the rights of vulnerable communities embodies the true spirit of global citizenship.
Previous Laureates
Zannah Bukar Mustapha, Global Citizen Award Previous Laureate 2023
Nigerian lawyer Zannah Bukar Mustapha was honored with the 2023 Henley & Partners Global Citizen Award, presented in collaboration with the Andan Foundation, a Swiss non-profit humanitarian organization.
A highly regarded humanitarian and philanthropist, Mr Mustapha is the Founder of the Future Prowess Islamic Foundation, set up in 2007 to provide psychological, educational, spiritual and other developmental support to the children and widows affected by the insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria.
Mr. Mustapha played a critical role in mediating the release of over 100 of the Chibok school girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram in a remote part of the country in April 2014, giving rise to the international #BringBackOurGirls campaign.
The school he founded in 2007 in Maiduguri — the capital of Borno State and the epicenter of the Boko Haram rebellion — now provides free education, meals, uniforms, and healthcare to children on both sides of the conflict as a sign of the reconciliation he hopes to achieve in the region.
From just a single classroom serving 36 students, the foundation’s school has expanded significantly under Mustapha's guidance, and today provides support to over 2,000 students between the ages of 3 and 14. The school has directly benefited a total of 7,000 vulnerable children to date, with over 4,000 students successfully graduating and gaining admission to secondary institutions.
Prof. Dr. Padraig O’Malley, Global Citizen Award Previous Laureate 2019
Prof. Dr. Padraig O’Malley received the 2019 Henley & Partners Global Citizen Award in recognition of his work on conflict resolution and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Iraq. As an expert on democratic transitions around the world, Prof. O’Malley works off the premise that cultures in conflict are in the best position to help other cultures in conflict work towards building peace and stability.
He has been deeply involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland, playing a critical role in bringing together opposing factions and laying the groundwork for the Good Friday Agreement. In South Africa, he chronicled the transition from apartheid to democracy and is recognized as having played a central, largely unsung, role in that transition. In Iraq, he persuaded leaders of the country’s warring political and religious factions to meet in Finland for discussions that would form the basis of a peace agreement.
He has monitored elections in Mozambique, South Africa, and the Philippines and facilitated critical discussions between representatives of some of the most divided societies on earth, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Lebanon, and Nigeria.
Prof. O’Malley has written extensively on the subject of divided societies and the promotion of peace, and his model of behind-the-scenes diplomacy is widely regarded as transformative. He is the John Joseph Moakley Professor of International Peace and Reconciliation at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, a senior fellow in the Center for Development and Democracy, and the head of the Forum for Cities in Transition.
Diep N. Vuong, Global Citizen Award Previous Laureate 2018
Diep N. Vuong, Co-Founder and President of Pacific Links Foundation, received the 2018 Henley & Partners Global Citizen Award in recognition of her courageous, longstanding international campaigning for the rights of those enslaved by human trafficking, as well as her grassroots work in protecting those rescued from such enslavement.
Vuong’s commitment to this cause is born out of her own harrowing experience fleeing Vietnam with her brother and father as a young teenager. It took 17 years for her family to be reunited in the USA. As a former refugee and stateless person who went on to graduate from Harvard University, Vuong has dedicated her life to helping those most affected by global inequality and its pernicious effects.
Under Vuong’s leadership, the Pacific Links Foundation has grown into one of the leading organizations in Southeast Asia working to prevent the trafficking of men, women, and youths within and out of Vietnam. The foundation runs a comprehensive range of effective counter-trafficking initiatives that include education for at-risk women, youth leadership and empowerment training, and the Factory Awareness to Counter Trafficking (FACT) campaign, which works with multinational corporations to reduce forced labor and trafficking risks within their supply chain.
Protective measures focus on the reintegration, rehabilitation, and upskilling of trafficking. Vuong and her team tirelessly serve and protect communities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, along the northern, central, and southern borders of the country, and in industrial zones, providing vocational and educational opportunities, safe housing, and healthcare services to at-risk youth and trafficking survivors.
Monique Morrow, Global Citizen Award Previous Laureate 2017
In 2017, the Global Citizen Award honored Monique Morrow: humanitarian, technological pioneer, and co-founder of The Humanized Internet. The Humanized Internet project focuses on the 1.1 billion individuals, of which 230 million are children under the age of five who have lost their legal identity as a result of involuntary displacement or who have been denied an identity and rendered stateless by their governments. Without government-issued documentation, these individuals are invisibilized and excluded from society and its institutions, which makes them especially vulnerable to human trafficking and abuse.
Morrow’s organization works tirelessly to empower these dispossessed groups with a virtual identity — a digital set of their marriage, birth, education, health care, and other essential records — that they can access any time, through any mobile device. This ground-breaking approach shifts identity-ownership away from NGOs and other intermediaries and into the hands of the refugees or asylum-seekers themselves.
“Monique Morrow’s remarkable work at the intersection of technology and human rights makes her an exceptionally worthy recipient of this year’s award,” says Paola de Leo, Head of Group Philanthropy at Henley & Partners. “The Humanized Internet is a demonstration of how the incredible advances and innovations in technology today can be used to improve the plight of the world’s most vulnerable people. Morrow is paving the way for more open and sustainable systems of governance and identity, and she deserves this year’s award unequivocally. Henley & Partners is committed to working with Morrow to promote the global cause of refugees, which has become the primary focus of our social investment.”
Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman, Global Citizen Award Previous Laureate 2016
In 2016, the Global Citizen Award honored humanitarian and founder of Gift of the Givers Foundation, Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman. Since the start of the foundation in August 1992, Dr. Sooliman has grown the Gift of the Givers into Africa’s largest disaster relief organization. Today, the organization has a team of 200 individuals that provide medical assistance, equipment, supplies, high energy and protein supplements, food, and water to millions of people each year.
The award recognizes not only the humanitarian efforts of this African NGO but also its drive for cutting-edge innovation and invention. The Gift of the Givers Foundation designed and developed the world’s first and only containerized hospital comprising 28 units, as well as the world’s first groundnut-soya high energy and protein supplement that is used in the treatment of severe malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, TB, cancer, and other life-threatening and debilitating conditions. The foundation additionally established Africa’s largest open source computer lab.
During the largest refugee emergency in history, Dr. Sooliman started working internationally and brought the foundation’s relief efforts to Syria and Türkiye. He has erected two hospitals in Syria and is now running a program to upgrade and transfer skills to doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel. By acknowledging the significant work being done by this African NGO internationally, Henley & Partners also wants to highlight the contribution to the global community by a region that is often seen exclusively as a mere recipient of international aid.
Harald Höppner, Global Citizen Award Previous Laureate 2015
In 2015, the Global Citizen Award honored Harald Höppner’s courage and individual initiative at the time of the most dramatic refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea. Born to a family of doctors in East Berlin, Höppner dropped out of university when the Berlin Wall was demolished in November 1989 in order to travel the world. He then started a successful business selling exotic furniture, jewelry, clothing, and artistic craftwork from India, Thailand, Nepal, and Indonesia.
In November 2014, at the onset of the Mediterranean refugee crisis and following a terrible accident where 366 refugees’ lives were lost when a boat capsized near the island of Lampedusa, Höppner, together with his colleague Matthias Kuhnt, purchased a century-old fishing boat and began patrolling the Mediterranean Sea.
In June 2015, after nearly six months of planning, preparation, and renovations, the boat — now named Sea Watch — was equipped with first aid kits, drinking water, life boats, and satellite phones. Sea Watch began providing rescue efforts and first aid to refugees off the Libyan coast, rescuing 600 people on its first mission alone. The organization has since grown significantly with the help of numerous volunteers dedicated to saving as many people as possible from distress at sea. Sea Watch was able to rescue over 5,000 souls in 2015 alone.