Balzan Prize for humanitarian achievement awarded to NGO in Switzerland

Milan, Sep 10 (AP) An international children rights charity based in Switzerland has been awarded the 2018 Balzan Prize for humanitarian achievement.

The Balzan Foundation announced Monday that Terre des Hommes will receive 1 million Swiss francs (USD 1 million) for a project in the African nation of Mali to save infants during childbirth and help their mothers. The foundation said the project could be replicated on a larger scale in other countries.

While the Balzan Foundation awards prizes of 750,000 Swiss francs (USD 770,000) each year in four otherwise overlooked disciplines — two humanities and two scientific — the humanitarian award is given less frequently, at least every three years.

This year, prizes were awarded for social anthropology, global history, chemical ecology, and fluid dynamics.