Nansen Refugee Award
Nansen Refugee Award
Martin Azia Sodea, chief of Gado-Badzéré village, Cameroon, is the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award’s 2025 Global Laureate.
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The 2025 Global Laureate is Martin Azia Sodea, chief of the Gado-Badzéré village in eastern Cameroon.
Martin Azia Sodea has shown exceptional dedication and leadership. He and his family welcomed over 36,000 refugees from the Central African Republic to his village. They donated land for housing and farming, turning Gado-Badzéré into a hub for fresh produce and self-reliance. He has established support networks for refugee women and youth, regularly resolves disputes, and has created a safe, thriving community.
What drove us was the desire to save lives.
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The ceremony
Chief Martin Azia Sodea and the regional winners will be honoured at a special ceremony in Geneva on 16 December 2025.
Meet the 2025 regional winners
The 2025 regional winners of the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award were selected from hundreds of nominees for their outstanding work with refugees, internally displaced and stateless people.
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Americas | Pablo Moreno Cadena
Pablo Moreno Cadena is a private sector leader who champions refugee inclusion in Mexico. As a senior executive at MABE, a major appliance manufacturer in the country, he led the company to become the first employer in Mexico to actively recruit and integrate refugees into its workforce.
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Asia and the Pacific | Negara Nazari
Negara Nazari is the co-founder of Ariana Learning Centre, which serves over 1,200 young learners in Tajikistan, filling an urgent need for quality, affordable education opportunities for both Afghan refugees and children from the host community.
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Europe | Proliska
For over a decade, Proliska has worked on the front lines in Ukraine, delivering life-saving aid in the most dangerous and hard-to-reach areas.
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Middle East and North Africa | Taban Shoresh
Taban Shoresh is the founder and CEO of The Lotus Flower, a non-profit organization that supports conflict survivors in Iraq to heal and rebuild their lives.
About the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
Since 1954, more than 60 individuals, groups or organizations have received the Award for their extraordinary service to refugees, displaced and stateless people.
