The Unesco has awarded its Peace Prize to Giuseppina Nicolini, the mayor of the Italian island of Lampedusa, because of her commitment to saving the lives of migrants and refugees. The Unesco Peace Prize jury recognised the Italian mayor "for her boundless humanity and unwavering commitment to refugee crisis management and integration in response to the arrival of thousands of refugees on the shores of Lampedusa and elsewhere in Italy."

Giuseppina Nicolini was bestowed with the honour on Wednesday and, during the ceremony, the President of the jury, Joaquim Chissano, former President of Mozambique reminded that refugees and migrants constitute one of the crucial issues of our day, notably in the Mediterranean. Lampedusa is the first landfall for thousands of people fleeing from Africa and the Middle East and Nicolini has always been a defender of refugee and migrant rights.

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