The first winners for Amnesty International’s Gary Ware Legacy Award were announced this evening on Human Rights Day as a nod to the importance of youth voices in shaping Aotearoa’s future.
The Gary Ware Legacy Award is a new award from Amnesty International made possible by the Ware family who have been advocating for the rights of others in New Zealand and abroad for decades.
Entries have been piling in from young people across the country, with some incredible human rights initiatives including solar lights for village homes in Fiji, teddy bears for refugees and peer-to-peer mentor programmes.
But the winners for this year’s award go to...
Olivia Bing, Sophie Newton, M Gan, and Laura Oh from Glendowie College. They will receive funding for their big idea – a documentary highlighting human trafficking here in New Zealand. The group hopes to enter the documentary into film festivals later in the year.
Olivia Bing says information on the issue is difficult to uncover but awareness is the first step to better protecting people in New Zealand.
Laura Oh says receiving the award was a humbling experience.