The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) received the largest humanitarian award in the world for its innovative approach to solving global health issues impacting the world’s most impoverished communities.
The Hilton Humanitarian Symposium and Prize Ceremony held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on Wednesday last was attended by the world’s leaders in humanitarian work, an icddr,b press release said on Friday, reports UNB.
The theme of this year’s symposium is The Future of Humanitarian Action: Bridging Our Divides. The daylong conference brought together thought leaders and humanitarians from around the world with a focus on reaching across borders, cultures and sectors to navigate an evolving humanitarian landscape.
Speaking on the occasion, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti congratulated icddr,b on their award.
Dr Alaa Murabit, UN High-Level Commissioner and SDG Global Advocate who was recently in Cox Bazar, expressed her concern over the conditions that have led to the Rohingya exodus and recognised the commitment that icddr, b has made and continues to make to improving the lives of the world’s poorest people.
Hilton Foundation President and CEO Peter Laugharn in his address lauded icddr,b’s role in public health research and innovation as extremely worthy of this year’s award.
The icddr,b has received US$ 2 million in unrestricted funding, joining the list of 21 previous organisations that have received the Hilton Humanitarian Prize over the last two decades including most recently, The Task Force for Global Health, Landesa and Fountain House.
Dr Roger I Glass, Director of Fogarty International Center, National Institute of Health, USA; Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chairman of BRAC; Lynsey Addario, award-winning photojournalist; Molly Melching, Founder of international NGO Tostan; Shamil Idriss, President and CEO of Search for Common Ground; Raj Kumar, President and Editor-in-Chief of Devex; Lara Setrakian, co-founder and CEO of News Deeply, as well as icddr,b’s Senior Directors and Deputy Executive Director attended the event.
