• Held under the patronage of the Ruler of Sharjah and his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi
  • The AED 500,000 Award targets humanitarian organizations who have offered outstanding services to refugees and forcibly displaced people

Sharjah: The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), a Sharjah-based global humanitarian non-profit dedicated to helping refugees and people in need worldwide, has called on champions of humanity to participate in the seventh edition of the Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support (SIARA) 2023, from September 1 – November 15. Registration is open to all non-profit organizations, based in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, through the link https://tbhf.ae/nomination/#nominationId.

SIARA is organized under the patronage and support of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of TBHF and UNHCR Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children. The AED 500,000 award has been held annually since 2017 in collaboration with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). The award prize is a special contribution by TBHF and does not represent any share of the donations made to the foundation.

The award targets local humanitarian organizations in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa who have offered outstanding services to refugees and forcibly displaced people, which have had a positive and sustainable impact on their lives.

Eligibility criteria

SIARA is awarded to legally registered non-profit organizations that are working on social and humanitarian programmes and activities for a minimum of one year prior to nomination. In addition, their values and conduct must be compatible with that of TBHF and UNHCR. Organizations can choose to self-nominate or be nominated by other individuals or organizations.

The nominees are evaluated based on the impact of their work in bringing about tangible benefits within refugee or displaced communities. Innovative practices that boost overall sustainability of programmes and project activities, gender sensitivity in the planning and implementation of these projects, and demonstrable ability to address humanitarian gaps, especially in emergency situations, are some of the other important criteria.

The award aims to promote the values, principles and global standards of humanitarian work, including sustainability, scope, transparency, and inclusion in execution of projects, and encourages more sustainable outcomes of programmes implemented, and lays special focus on promoting best practices. By setting these standards, SIARA’s object is to honour and celebrate the achievements of humanitarian organizations while extending monetary support to those who work in extremely challenging circumstances to fulfil pressing needs of the most affected populations and support the growth of their work and their involvement within their community.

Honouring humanitarian efforts

Mariam Al Hammadi, Director of TBHF, said: "Since its inception in 2017, SIARA has been a catalyst for exceptional organizations to fuel their humanitarian efforts to alleviate the sufferings of vulnerable populations by mobilizing aid and long-term assistance in ways that reap maximum results. With each successive edition of the award, we continue to garner global interest and quality nominations. This clearly reflects the vital role played by the UAE and Sharjah in this sector. 

“SIARA’s immediate impact can be seen in the way supports and promotes future ambitions of its winners each year, which also translates into elevating the global humanitarian ecosystem as a whole. Within the award’s purview are humanitarian efforts that create holistic environments that support long term development of societies. Culture and entertainment, talent- and capacity-building are as important to SIARA as meeting basic needs of food, clean water and health care, for instance.”

TBHF Director further emphasised, “Educating the displaced, particularly children and youth, bringing smiles to their faces with film screenings or strengthening their sense of community through cultural festivals is as vital to their overall development as traditional relief efforts. This makes philanthropy a widely applicable value, not limited to only those who make charitable contributions. Thus, we call on organisations who dedicate themselves to making other people’s lives better to participate in SIARA. Their efforts are truly appreciated”. 

The sixth edition of the award (2022) received 177 nominations from 39 countries. Of these, 110 nominations were from Africa, 59 from Asia, and 8 nominations from Europe and the rest of the world. Nigeria topped the list of country-specific nominations with 33 entries, followed by Uganda with 23. The rest of entries came from Egypt, Pakistan, South Africa, Palestine, India, Somalia, Cambodia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, the United States, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Congo, Bangladesh, Nepal, Lebanon, Cameroon, Philippines, Jordan, Ghana, Turkey, Iraq, the UAE, Malaysia, Malawi, Poland, the UK, the Netherlands, Botswana,and Gambia.

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