Terre des hommes wins the Balzan Prize: one million Swiss francs for newborn children

Terre des hommes has been awarded the Balzan Prize for humanity, peace and fraternity. The prize is worth one million Swiss francs and rewards the work performed by our teams in the fight against maternal and infant mortality.

The Balzan Prize is awarded at least every three years and is the most important peace prize after the Nobel prize. Past winners have included Mother Teresa and Abbé Pierre. “We’re thrilled to be receiving this prize. It’s not often that our work is recognised as contributing to world peace,” says Vito Angelillo, CEO at Terre des hommes.

In awarding the Balzan Prize, the President of the Balzan Prize Foundation, Enrico Decleva, highlighted “Terre des hommes’ commitment to improving the daily lives of the most vulnerable and saving millions of poor children across the world”.

Tdh was singled out for its SIMESON project. This project trains health workers in the Ségou region in Mali to save infants at birth and care for their mothers. The project could be replicated in other countries and deployed on a large scale.

Riccardo Lampariello, Head of Health Programmes at Terre des hommes, is thrilled with the prize. "This is an acknowledgement of the spirit of innovation that drives us at Tdh. Thanks to this prize, we’ll be able to help more children and their mothers. It’s wonderful news.”