Dutch campaign group COC Nederland, the oldest surviving LGBTQI+ rights organisation in the world, has won the International Pride Award at the WorldPride Human Rights Conference in Amsterdam.
The awards, a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme and ILGA World, were presented to five “equality champions” at a ceremony in the Beurs van Berlage on Wednesday. Amsterdam is hosting WorldPride, the global LGBTQI+ event, for the first time this year.
The COC, founded in 1946, was recognised in particular for its support for people in countries where homosexuality is banned or even punishable by death, director Marie Ricardo, who accepted the prize, told broadcaster NOS.
“We support them with coaching, we help them think about how to bring about change in their own surroundings, and we support them with money,” she said.
Ricardo called the award “a recognition of the work we have been doing for 80 years, and the 40 years we have been supporting movements internationally”.
Other winners include South African deputy minister Mmapaseka Steve Letsike and Ugandan transgender pastor Aggie Dennett Harmon.
