Recognised for her advocacy and activism on behalf of the Australian-African and Melbourne's South Sudanese communities, Nyadol, who moved to Australia as a refugee when she was 18, was one of five finalists for the prestigious award announced on 14 December in Sydney.

• Welcome Cities is a national network of inclusive, vibrant communities embracing opportunities of migration and fostering a sense of belonging and participation
• E-Raced aims to erase racism one story at a time by sharing migrants and refugee stories with school children in Queensland
• ActNow a theatre-based program helping school children in South Australia develop strategies to tackle racism and promote reconciliation
• Mariam Veiszadeh  Afghan-born lawyer and equality campaigner who set up the Islamophobia Register that tracks anti-Muslim incidents in Australia

Speaking at the Award ceremony, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Australia Fabio Spadi congratulated Nyadol and all the finalists - 'the Platinum Members of the human rights club.'

"The EU continues to be a proud sponsor of the award that recognises outstanding contributions of people and initiatives working tirelessly to promote tolerance."

The EU has a long-standing record of protecting and promoting human rights all around the world. In Australia, for example, it has allocated 2 billion over six years to the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights.

Human Rights Awards

The Human Rights Awards is the pinnacle of human rights recognition in Australia. The prestigious 2018 Human Rights Medal was awarded to the Honourable Justice Peter McClellan AM and Chrissie Foster for their enormous contribution to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

#EU4HumanRights

The 2018 Award coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, recognised globally on 10 December 2018. Read more here.

Australian Human Rights Commission President Rosalind Croucher says human rights, as set out in the Declaration, start with an essential proposition—that people are born ‘free and equal in dignity and rights’. "The declaration embodies a vision that transcends political parties and political systems and reaches across all societies and all nations."

She announced that the Commission will conduct a National Summit on Human Rights in mid-2019.