Dr. Gilles Degois Nominated for Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights

April 2007, Bethany, CT – American Friends of Le Kinkeliba is delighted to announce the nomination of Le Kinkeliba’s Founder, Dr. Gilles Degois, for the esteemed Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. This award was established in 1999 to honor Dr. Jonathan Mann and highlight the vital link between health and human rights. Sponsored by five organizations, Association François-Xavier Bagnoud, CARE, Doctors of the World, John Snow, Inc. and the Global Health Council, the award is bestowed annually to a leading practitioner in health and human rights and comes with a substantial financial reward to allow its recipients a measure of freedom to pursue their work in the important area of global health and human rights. 

Presented annually to the recipient during a special ceremony May 31st, 2007, at the Global Health Council’s annual conference in Washington D.C., this distinguished honor ranks among one of the highest within the international global health community.

In nominating Dr. Degois for the Mann Award, American Friends of Le Kinkeliba Founder and President, Nicholas Fox Weber, cited the importance of Dr. Degois' commitment to human rights to his work over the past 12 years in rural Africa: "Dr. Gilles Degois is an unsung hero among the people who are working today in Africa to reduce maternal and infant mortality, to prevent and combat disease, and to improve the lives of the impoverished and underserved in far-reaching ways. The motivating force behind the work of Dr. Degois in Africa is his central belief that all persons deserve the same rights of access to quality medical care, to health education and prevention information, to clean water and nutritious food -- and, for children and their parents, the right of access to quality early childhood education.”

Further information about the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights can be found at www.globalhealth.org/.