The Italian NGO EMERGENCY is among 23 projects from the EU and the UK that have received the award for their outstanding contribution to fighting COVID-19 and its disastrous consequences.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has awarded the Civil Solidarity Prize to the humanitarian NGO EMERGENCY for its invaluable role on the front line of the COVID-19 battlefield. A seasoned crisis-healthcare provider, the NGO developed a replicable and scalable model to design and manage hospitals in a pandemic and set up a field hospital in Bergamo when the city was a hotspot during the first surge of COVID-19 in Europe.

The EESC selected EMERGENCY as the winner in the category of projects that had a cross-border or European focus and were operational in more than one country.

The humanitarian NGO called on its decades of experience in providing crisis healthcare in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and Sierra Leone to respond to COVID-19. More usually focused on offering medical care to victims of war and poverty, in 2020, EMERGENCY provided assistance in Italy and around the world to contain the pandemic and its consequences. Its contribution was also key in the Mediterranean Sea, where EMERGENCY is involved in search and rescue operations.

EMERGENCY was announced as one of the 23 prize-winners at a virtual awards ceremony held by the EESC on 15 February. Each winner received a prize worth EUR 10 000.

Presenting the prizes, the EESC's vice-president for communication, Cillian Lohan, said:

"The EESC has repeatedly stressed that solidarity and targeted shared action are key to surviving such a pandemic. The only effective response to a crisis such as this pandemic is to act quickly, decisively, and together. There are lessons here for dealing with other crises, whether they are social, economic or environmental.

Civil society has been at the forefront of all solidarity actions and without their help on the ground, the price paid for this pandemic would be much higher. All the projects we received are proof of selfless citizen and grassroots engagement, showing the contribution of civil society in this fight to be enormous. With this prize, we are acknowledging the people and organisations making a difference in these unprecedented times. It is an honour to be able to celebrate together".

The awards went to the winning entries from 21 countries of the European Union. One prize was given to a project with a cross-border focus and one to an organisation from the United Kingdom, as a gesture meant to show that the EESC wanted to keep close ties with UK civil society, despite the fact that the country has left the EU.

Although the EESC aimed to find a winner from each EU Member State and from the UK, six countries offered no eligible entries.

The winners were selected from a total of 250 applications submitted by civil society organisations, individuals and private companies. All of the projects had solidarity as their driving force and displayed creative and effective ways of rising to the often-daunting challenges posed by the crisis.

Most projects targeted vulnerable groups or people most affected by the crisis such as the elderly and young people, children, women, minorities, migrants, the homeless, medical personnel or employees and employers.

As regards the projects' content, there were five main themes: food supply and assistance to vulnerable groups, medical equipment, advisory services, educational services and information on the pandemic, and culture.

THE CROSS-BORDER WINNER

EMERGENCY received the award as one of the entries focusing on the theme "medical equipment in production and distribution". 

Having worked in Sierra Leone during the 2014/2015 Ebola outbreak, EMERGENCY was able to react to this new epidemic and implement infection prevention and control, as well as more effective triage in its clinics abroad to guarantee the continuity of non-COVID services. Its guidelines for compartmentalising health structures, for virus control and for protecting staff and patients were applied in developed health systems, as well as in those with fragile and under-resourced health care structures. EMERGENCY's know-how was used in centres for minors and seniors, in shelters for migrants and on boats.

In Italy, one of the most badly affected countries at the start of the pandemic, EMERGENCY set up a field hospital in Bergamo, managed an ICU ward, and reorganised permanent and mobile clinics to prevent workers and patients catching the disease. Alongside international organisations, local governments, civil society organisations and public and private entities, it responded to the medical and social needs of people for whom the epidemic was not only a health risk but also a blow to their economic survival. In Milan, Catania, Venice and Piacenza, it set up a delivery service of basic goods for anyone to whom going out posed a threat

"This award acknowledges the importance of ensuring the same standard of protection and care worldwide. Our flexible and replicable response has been implemented in several contexts, from Europe to Asia and Africa,” explains President Rossella Miccio. "The prize’s potential to foster awareness and promote partnerships among a global audience is key as we focus on building resilient health systems and making sure that nobody is left behind during this health and social crisis. Therefore, EMERGENCY would like to dedicate this award to the most marginalised and vulnerable people in society. We’re committed to leave no one behind ".

The EESC hopes that the Civil Solidarity Prize will enhance the visibility and raise awareness not only of the winning projects but also of many other creative citizens' initiatives taking place in the EU.

"Today, we are not applauding only our 23 winners. We are taking our hats off to all of Europe's civil society and to so many of its organisations, companies and individuals who have shown and who keep showing unprecedented solidarity, courage and civic responsibility in these difficult and trying times", Mr Lohan said.

The projects and initiatives run by citizens and civil society in many ways complemented efforts undertaken by Member States to cushion the blows of the crisis and were even ahead of them in some areas, such as the production of face-masks at local and regional level, the EESC said.

Compared to the entries received for the Civil Society Prize in previous years, the EESC saw an increased number of applications from informal or less well-established organisations, which clearly demonstrates the spirit on the ground.

THE PRIZE CRITERIA

The EESC launched the prize in July 2020, with the theme "Civil Society against COVID-19", announcing that it would be an exceptional, one-off award replacing its trademark Civil Society Prize. The aim was to pay tribute to Europe's civil society, which actively and selflessly engaged in acts of solidarity from the very first days of the pandemic.

The contest was open to individuals, civil society organisations and companies whose projects had to be strictly not-for-profit and not more than 50% publicly funded. They had to be directly linked to COVID-19, specifically aiming to fight the virus or to tackle its consequences.

Each year, the EESC's flagship Civil Society Prize honours civil society organisations and/or individuals whose projects celebrate European identity and common values in a particular field of work. It has been awarded since 2006.