Call For Nominations

The Netherlands Embassy in Maputo has been advocating for Human Rights issues through its specific thematic support on Food & Nutrition Security (FNS), Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and Water and Sanitation (WASH) programmes. Also, in all transversal areas such as gender, youth, climate change, human rights is always taken as a cornerstone in the activities.

This prize is meant to stimulate human rights advocacy, research and to promote the protection of human rights in Mozambique, in particular the work of the prize winner. It also aims to support and strengthen the civil society network, increase awareness and appreciation of the work of human rights defenders by the general public.

In Mozambique, Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and Human Rights Defenders play a crucial role not only by granting access to human rights to the people, but also, by protecting and promoting these when necessary, especially to the ones most vulnerable such as young girls, women and youth.

 

Nomination criteria

The candidate should have the Mozambican nationality and be between the age of 18 and 35 and implement its activities anywhere in country. The nominee can work for a CSO, private company or independently. The organizations should be Mozambican and with less than five years of existence. And, most important, the person or organization should have a relevant work related to the protection of Human Rights.

One can either nominate a person or an organization. The candidate should have never received a prize on human rights.

The winner will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Impact: having a real impact in the field the person is active in, either in terms of raised awareness, successful lobbying, or other demonstrable impact.
• Courage: showing personal courage and leadership through the work the nominee  does.
• Creativity and innovation: using creative ideas and coming up with the nominee’s own initiatives and innovative approaches to further the candidate’s cause.
• Need: the ideal candidate does not already have a high profile and does not receive (large amounts of) funds or other support from international donors or the Mozambican government. Thus, the recognition and financial support from the Embassy Tulip Award would make a real difference for the winner. 
• Sensitivity: the choice for a nominee should not impact negatively on the individual selected.
• Thematic focus: the work of the candidates has to be linked to one of the six human rights priorities of the Netherlands, being freedom of expression and internet, freedom of religion and belief, equal rights for LGBTI-persons, human rights defenders and civic space, tackling impunity for serious crimes, equal rights for women and girls (including SRHR).

Selection procedure

The nomination period opens from 24 September up to 11 October 2025. The nomination should be substantiated bearing in mind the selection criteria. Nominations received after 11 October 2025 will not be considered.

After the nominations, a jury composed of three experts on human rights in Mozambique will select three finalists in October, upon which the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will select the final winner, that will be announced in December.

Prize

The Embassy Tulip Award prize will be offered during an award ceremony. The prize will be amongst others consist of a financial contribution of 5,000 EUR to the work of the winner, so that the winner can continue and strengthen its capacity for impact. The first two runners-up will be invited to the event and receive a  Certificate of Honor. The work of the best three candidates will be presented during the award ceremony.

How to apply
If you know a human rights defender/organization that meets the criteria, submit a nomination by sending an e-mail to map@minbuza.nl . The title should be “Nomination for  Tulip Award”, and it should contain contact details of the nominated person/organization and a short letter (maximum 2 pages) or a video explaining why the person/ organization should be rewarded.

The deadline for nominations is 11 October 2025, 23:00 hours. 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us in case of any questions about the prize and the process through map@minbuza.nl