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**Embargo: Not for publication before March 9, 2018, 00:01 UK time** Gwendoline Christie and Laura Mvula to lead celebration of refugee and migrant women at ’s WOW - Women of the World festival Women on the Move award winners include a young Egyptian refugee, campaigning for education access, and two women championing the rights of vulnerable families in asylum accommodation in Halifax. LONDON, 9 March The 2018 Women on the Move Awards, presented by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Migrants Organise, will on March 9 recognise exceptional refugees, migrants and those working on their behalf for their outstanding work in empowering women. Hosted by the BBC journalist Samira Ahmed, the awards will be presented by the actor Gwendoline Christine (Star Wars, Game of Thrones), and Southbank Centre Artistic Director and founder of WOW - Women of the World Jude Kelly CBE. Acclaimed British singer- songwriter Laura Mvula will perform at the ceremony as part of WOW - Women of the World at London’s Southbank Centre. Ms. Christie said: “I so admire the courage of these women to go out and fight for what they know is right. The power of women when they work together to affect change is truly astounding.” Ms. Mvula said: “I am delighted to perform at the Women on the Move Awards and to help celebrate refugee women. Their remarkable strength and determination are an inspiration to us all.” The Young Woman of the Year will be awarded to Shrouk El-Attar, a young Egyptian refugee who is a tireless campaigner for the right to higher education for asylum-seekers and on LGBTI+ issues. Ms. El-Attar said: “I’m involved in a lot of things that take a lot of energy where not much happens in the end…but you can win and it’s so good to see your work paying off.” The main award will this year recognise Florence Kahuro and Veeca Smith, who have championed the rights of vulnerable families living in asylum accommodation in Halifax. Through their organisation, Sisters United, they are fighting to improve housing conditions and help refugees settle into their new lives. They take people to hospital, register their children for school meals, organise toy collections and help find school uniforms for families who can’t afford them. Each week, they help 50 women of 17 nationalities (including British). Ms. Kahuro said: “We want to show women that there is more to life than just giving up… If you believe in humanity, you go out there and fight, you don’t sit back and wait.” The Champion Award will be given to Jem Stein, founder of the Bike Project in South London, which since 2013 has been taking second-hand bikes, fixing them up and donating them to more than 3,000 refugees and asylum-seekers. The Sue Lloyd-Roberts Media Award goes to

Manveen Rana for her BBC Radio 4 series following a Syrian refugee family over the course of their journey to Europe. UNHCR Representative Gonzalo Vargas Llosa said: “The bravery of these asylum-seeking and refugee women is truly humbling. In spite of everything they’ve been through, they are reaching out to others in need and giving back to the communities that have welcome them.” Migrants Organise Chief Executive Zrinka Bralo said: “It’s heart-warming to see how our awards ceremony has turned into such a powerful celebration of the contribution that migrant and refugee women make. Our past winners continue to inspire: working for the BBC, running their own support groups, writing books and working for the Mayor's office.”

About Women on the Move Awards - The Women on the Move Awards and Fellowship were set up in 2012 to recognise and celebrate inspirational leadership and contribution from migrant and refugee women to UK society. This year’s event is on March 9 at 18:30 at London’s Southbank Centre. The awards are a way of saying “thank you” to these committed and courageous women and to be inspired by their positive energy and inventiveness in these difficult times. The idea behind the awards came as an inspiration from the Voices of Courage Awards run by Women’s Refugee Commission in New York. The founder of the Women on the Move awards, CEO of Migrants Organise Zrinka Bralo, was a recipient of one of these awards in 2011. The awards and fellowship make a difference to the women who win them. They gain recognition for their work, their profile is raised, and they are given access to high quality leadership development opportunities. The legacy of these awards goes beyond the ceremony, towards the creation of a more positive discourse on migration.

About WOW - Southbank Centre's WOW – Women of the World festival is a global festival movement launched by Jude Kelly CBE in London in 2010, followed by the first festival in March 2011, that celebrates women and girls and looks at the obstacles that stop them from achieving their potential. To date, WOW has reached over 1.5 million people worldwide and this number is growing year on year. Jude Kelly announced in January 2018 that she will leave the arts centre in May 2018 to further globally develop the festival. Jude’s vision for the expanded global festival will be announced in due course.

Each festival across the world - made up of talks, debates, music, activism, mentoring, pop ups and performance - celebrates women and girls, takes a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential, and raises awareness globally of the issues they face and possible solutions. It reaches girls and women, boys and men from a broad range of social backgrounds and supplies a completely different sense of action and energy than a conventional conference approach. Speakers have included Malala Yousafzai, Christine Lagarde, Angela Davis, Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Salma Hayek, Annie Lennox, Gordon Brown, Julie Walters, and many more including hundreds of women and men who don’t have public profiles but are working every day to achieve gender equality.

Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall has been President of WOW since 2015. WOW London 2018 takes place March 7-11 at London’s Southbank Centre, supported by Bloomberg.

About Southbank Centre - Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is home to the , , and as well as The National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. For further information please visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk.

For further information, photos, video and filming passes, please contact:

Laura Padoan, UNHCR London +44(0)7775 566 127, [email protected]

Eleanor Weber-Ballard, Migrants Organise 0781 77 77 114, [email protected]

Phoebe Gardiner, Southbank Centre 07931 730016, [email protected]