The Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) announced on Friday that this year’s Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award (ADHRA) will be awarded to a Filipino children’s rights advocate, Amihan V. Abueva.
According to the foundation, the award recognizes the 30 years of work that Abueva has done to promote children’s rights and welfare in Asia. TFD hopes that this would also inspire human rights defenders in the region and give them more confidence and strength knowing that their efforts and contributions have not gone unnoticed.
TFD points out that Abueva currently serves as the Regional Executive Director of the Child Rights Coalition of Asia (CRC Asia), an alliance of non-profit organizations (NPOs) committed to promoting and protecting children’s rights and welfare. CRC Asia has actively linked up with NPOs in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines to form a large-scale anti-child trafficking network and is working on getting Southeast Asian countries to sign a prevention program for child trafficking.
The awards ceremony will be held on Dec. 7 and in addition to receiving a trophy, a US$100,000 grant will be conferred to honor Abueva for her efforts and contributions to human rights issues.
The TFD website states that the annual ADHRA “recognizes individuals or organizations that have demonstrated long-term commitment and outstanding leadership in advancing democracy or human rights through peaceful means in Asia.”