This has brought the total number of awards to seven.

Starting in 2025, in addition to the seven awards, individual innovators and organisations will stand a chance to win exciting prizes as the organisers will launch a new tech category to honour achievements in that necessarily burgeoning sector.

The organisers decided to exclude the company variants of the Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Award and the Hajiya Gambo Award, in keeping with the original design of the Awards.

Also, given that the MKO Abiola Award for Community Engagement has a similar scope to these awards, the decision was made to maintain consistency and clarity throughout the selection process.

The CAHR Awards Africa, now in its sixth year, having opened nominations on Saturday, 11 May 2024, provides a platform that empowers individuals by placing the power of recognition in their hands.

Through a democratic process, people can nominate their inspirational heroes – exceptional individuals and organisations dedicated to driving social change – for the opportunity to receive a prestigious award and gain international recognition.

This accolade is open to changemakers from diverse fields, including business and advocacy, with categories encompassing human rights, environmental stewardship, gender equality, social justice, community development, and many more.

Bekeme Masade-Olowola, the convenor and Chief Executive of CSR-in-Action, said “We have been committed to recognising outstanding initiatives these past five years, and aim to dig even deeper this year. As we refine our categories and processes, our goal is to find and recognise partners in development, who represent the spirit of social change and who, importantly, are the people’s choice.”

The organisers apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and encourage anyone who has nominated an organisation for the Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Award (Company) or Hajiya Gambo Award (Company) to consider nominating them in any of the other categories.

The new tech category, name to be announced, will recognise individuals or organisations who have made substantial contributions to promoting community development and human rights through technological innovation.

Nominations for this year are open in the following categories for companies:  MKO Abiola Community Engagement Award, Mallam Aminu Kano Award for Leadership and Ken Saro-Wiwa Environmental Management Award. Individual nominations are the Hajiya Gambo Sawaba Community Impact Award, Josephine Nkemdilim Masade Equal Rights Award, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Human Rights Award and Apostle Hayford Alile Humanitarian Award.

The CAHR Awards Africa team anticipates receiving nominations from individuals and companies whose remarkable work deserves recognition with the nominations deadline set for 31st June 2024.

Organised by CSR-in-Action, a leading international sustainability advocacy and consulting firm with offices in Canada, and Nigeria, the CAHR Awards Africa celebrates individual and corporate community and human rights heroes. CAHR is sponsored by Ford Foundation and Global Rights.

This year’s award comprised nine categories of which two received endowments. 10-year-old Aileen Florence Akinyi of Kenya, winner of the Apostle Hayford Alile Humanitarian award and the Women at Risk Foundation (WARIF), winner of the Josephine Nkemdilim Masade Equal Rights award, both received an endowment of five hundred thousand Nigerian naira (N500,000.00) each to further empower them for impact.

The CAHR award winners are:

1. Green Africa Foundation, Kenya – Winner, Ken Saro-Wiwa Environmental Management Award
2. Aileen Florence Akinyi, Kenya – Winner, Apostle Hayford Alile Humanitarian
3. Karis and Eleos Hand of Hope Foundation, Nigeria – Winner, Hajiya Gambo Sawaba Community Impact Award (Company Category)
4. Dr. Sanele Gamede, South Africa – Winner, Hajiya Gambo Sawaba Community Impact Award (Individual Category)
5. Ewang Ngide, Cameroon – Winner Aminu Kano Award for Leadership
6. Feminist for Peace Rights and Justice Centre, Kenya – Winner, MKO Abiola Community Engagement Award
7. Women at Risk Foundation (WARIF), Nigeria – Winner, Josephine Nkemdilim Masade Equal Rights Award
8. Awareness for Child Trafficking Africa (ACT Africa), South Africa – Winner, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Human Rights Award (Company category)
9. Professor Nwaocha Ogechukwu, Nigeria – Winner, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti Human Rights Award (Individual category).

In addition, a special award for Exemplary Leadership in Development was presented to Channels Television, a cable TV station in Africa that prides itself as an unbiased and candid observer of global events.

The Chief Executive, CSR-in-Action, Bekeme Olowola, stressed the importance of recognizing the humanitarian superheroes of African community whose works and deeds have contributed to the improvement of the quality of life and sustainability in society saying, “In addition to the recipients of these awards, we recognise and applaud every individual, organisation, and company that made it to the shortlist. They have dedicated resources to ensuring that anomalies in their immediate community and society at large are corrected, thereby promoting inclusivity, equity, and sustainability.

“I can say of the winners that I am deeply inspired by their dedication, strength, and commitment to the cause of humanity. They cause the team and I to want to do more” She added.

The rigorous award process involved an initial public nomination for the suitable award categories, followed by an internal review, validation of nominations, public voting, and final scrutiny by the CAHR awards jury based on a set of criteria.

Members of the jury for 2022 are Nyasha Frank Mpahlo, Executive Director, Green Governance Zimbabwe Trust; Augustus Emenogu, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning, and Adaptation (MERLA) Expert; Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Executive Director, Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII); Ego Boyo, Former President of the International Women’s Society, Nigeria; Ichechi Okonkwo, CEO, Victoria Crest Homes Ltd; Temitayo Ade-Peters, Founder, Sustainable Development Consultant, WeForGood International; and Pervaiz Tufail, CEO, Global Child Rescue Group.