The ICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or Award has been awarded annually to a professional photojournalist who has covered a humanitarian issue related to an armed conflict since 2011. It is part of the annual Visa pour lâÂÂimage international festival of photojournalism, which takes place in Perpignan, France.
In 2011, the regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in France decided to create the âÂÂICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or AwardâÂÂ, endowed with 8,000 euros. The aim is to honor the work photojournalists carry out every day in the field and to promote international humanitarian law through the lens of photography.
In its 15 editions, the Humanitarian Visa d'or has explored various facets of the humanitarian consequences of armed conflict:
<u>Theme: The fate of civilians in armed conflicts</u>
Saher Alghorra, a Palestinian photographer, for his report entitled We Have No Escape, produced in the Gaza Strip. Through a series of exceptionally powerful images, he documents the daily life of a population trapped in a conflict of unprecedented violence since October 7, 2023. For more than 17 months, Saher Alghorra has captured scenes of survival, suffering, and also resilience, bringing us close to the lives of families.
<u>Theme: The fate of civilians in armed conflicts</u>
Hugh Kinsella Cunningham, a British photographer, for his work on refugee camps in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
<u>Theme: The living conditions of migrants</u>
Federico Rios Escobar, an independent Colombian photographer, for a photo report on migrants in the Darién Gap.
<u>Theme: Forced displacement of populations</u>
Sameer Al-Doumy for his report âÂÂRoutes of DeathâÂÂ, on migrants attempting to cross into England from Calais, produced for Agence France-Presse.
<u>Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civilians</u>
Antoine Agoudjian, whose report for Le Figaro Magazine âÂÂpowerfully depicts the heavy toll paid by civilians during the latest escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, with intense shelling and fighting in urban areas on both sides of the front line.âÂÂ
<u>Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civilians</u>
Alfredo Bosco, freelance photographer and contributor to Luz Photo Agency in Milan, won the 10th edition of the ICRC Humanitarian Visa dâÂÂor Award for his report on the drug war in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Geopolitical crises are the main focus of his work.
<u>Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civilians</u><br>Abdulmonam Eassa, Syrian photojournalist, born in 1995, now refugee in France, was rewarded for a report about the humanitarian consequences of the fighting in Eastern Ghouta in 2018. He started his career in photojournalism as a self-taught freelance photographer. He works with Agence France Presse.
<u>Theme: the consequences of urban warfare on civilians</u><br>Véronique de Viguérie, French photojournalist was rewarded for her report âÂÂHeroines, war madeâÂÂ, which pays tribute to Yemeni women, surviving in urban areas, and who in the absence of men, act as heads of families or also nurses. She works with Getty Images and Verbatim Photo Agency, among others.
<u>Theme: Women in war</u><br>Angela Ponce Romero, Peruvian photojournalist from the Diario Correo, was rewarded for her work entitled âÂÂAyacuchoâ accomplished in Peru. "AyacuchoâÂÂ, from the Quechua words âÂÂayaâ meaning âÂÂcorpseâ and âÂÂcuchoâ meaning âÂÂcorner,â is the âÂÂcorner of the dead.â Her report covers commemorative events held in Ayacucho, in 2016 and 2017, with families still looking for their relatives gone missing during the civil war in the 80s.
<u>Theme: Women in war</u><br>Juan Arredonde, Colombian-American photojournalist who often works with the New York Times and National Geographic, was rewarded for his photo essay âÂÂBorn into Conflict: Child soldiers in ColombiaâÂÂ.
<u>Theme: Women in war</u><br>Diana Zeyneb Alhindawi, photojournalist for the New York Times, WSJ, Le Monde and Vice was rewarded in 2015 for her work entitled âÂÂMinova rape trialsâ shot in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
<u>Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflict</u><br>William Daniels, French photojournalist and contributor to National Geographic, received the ICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or Award for his work entitled âÂÂHumanitarian Crisis in the Central African Republic.â '
<u>Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflict</u>
Sebastiano Tomada (Piccolomini), American photojournalist, working with Getty Images, was rewarded for his report in Syria called ë Life and Death in Aleppo û.
<u>Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflict</u>
Mani, Franco-Algerian photojournalist and film-maker, was awarded in 2012 for his report âÂÂSyria, Inside HomsâÂÂ, produced for the French media Le Monde.
<u>Theme: violence against health care services in armed conflict</u>
Catalina Martin-Chico, Spanish-French photographer with the Cosmos agency, was the first winner of the ICRC Humanitarian Visa d'or Award for her report âÂÂThe First Square Kilometer of Freedom: Change Square, SanaâÂÂa, Yemen.â '