It is the first time that an Angolan personality has received this award, awarded since 2016 to people “who have made an exceptional contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights and the rule of law in their countries and internationally”.
Sérgio Piçarra started his career in the 1980s and is today the most renowned cartoonist and author in Angola, says the press release.
In 1990, he began his career as a cartoonist, creating the character «Mankiko, the imbumbável» [who does not like to work] and who today constitutes the greatest reference of national caricature, the document adds.
Since the country's independence in 1975, Sérgio Piçarra has continuously produced drawings that portray the present day, currently publishing his drawings in the weekly newspapers Novo Jornal and Expansão.
The cartoonist has already participated in international events such as the International Convention of African Caricaturists in South Africa and in the celebrations of the International Day of Freedom of Expression of the Cartooning for Peace movement, in Addis Ababa, (Ethiopia) in 2019.
“He is honored for his personal engagement and for the work that contributes to the promotion of freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the rule of law in Angola”, adds the same statement, adding that the medal will be presented by the ambassadors of France and Germany in January 2021.
The other winners of this edition are Issam Younis (Palestine), Sara Seerat (Afghanistan), Nare Baré (Brazil), Ll Yuhan (China), Azza Soliman (Egypt), Yuri Alexeievitch Dmitriev (Russia), Lorna Merekaje (South Sudan) , Nayyab Ali (Pakistan), Rosa Anaya (Salvador), Nagham Nawzat Hasan (Iraq), Mathilda Twomey (Seychelles), José Antonio Zambrano Munguia (Honduras), Zoya Jureidini Rouhana (Lebanon) and Mária Patakyová (Slovakia).
