In statements at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting, led by President João Lourenço, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Francisco Queiroz, said that the creation of the award follows the National Human Rights Strategy, a document also approved this Thursday.
According to Francisco Queiroz, this award will honor people of recognized intervention in terms of promotion, defense and monitoring of human rights in the country.
"There are four categories of awards: personality of the year in human rights, scientific research in human rights, community action in human rights and culture of peace and citizenship in human rights", described the minister.
He explained that in each of the categories, the winners receive a statue, inspired by a figure conceived by a national artist, a monetary value and a certificate of the prize.
"This prize also aims to transfer to Angolan citizenship, to citizens, the ability to become more involved in the promotion, defence and supervision of human rights, rescuing sovereignty over our own dignity," said the minister.
Francisco Queiroz pointed out that the institution of the prize also aims to rescue the power of the Angolans themselves to supervise and self-denounce eventual flaws and attacks on human rights.
"The Human Rights Strategy, from which the Human Rights Prize and the National Plan for the Implementation of the Strategy are focused on this fundamental objective", he stressed.
In the meeting on Thursday the National Human Rights Strategy was also approved, which aims to "win the majority in human rights for Angolans, because until now the management of human rights has been very much on the basis of what is dictated from outside", said the minister.
Francisco Queiroz stressed that although Angola is "quite committed" to international conventions, namely those of the United Nations and the African Union, the country also needs to conceive human rights on the basis of an endogenous vision.
"Based on our culture, our strategy and our sensitivity to human dignity issues", he added.
The strategy foresees that human rights should be subject to periodic evaluation, at the level of the National Security Council, which meets monthly, analysing reports "to assess the state of human rights in the country, in the same way as it assesses the state of defence, security and internal order".
With this vision of human rights, there are now three main actors in Angola, namely the local human rights committees, which operate at the level of provinces, municipalities, communes and urban districts, mainly integrated by civil society organizations, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the National Security Council.
According to Francisco Queiroz, the Ministry is responsible for political and administrative management and for concentrating the information produced by the local committees, and the National Security Council receives the reports produced at the base and consolidated by the Ministry for its evaluation.