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Press release September 18, 2025

The 2026 Mark Palmer Prize: Call for Nominations

Freedom House is seeking nominations for the 2026 Mark Palmer Prize, which recognizes the work of officials who advance democracy and human rights. 

Freedom House is seeking nominations for the 2026 Mark Palmer Prize, which recognizes exceptional achievements in the protection and advancement of democracy by diplomats and officials serving in intergovernmental institutions. 
 
The award takes its name from the late Mark Palmer, a longtime Freedom House trustee and vice chairman and the US ambassador to Hungary from 1986 to 1990. In 1989, as the Cold War was coming to a close, Palmer boldly joined civil society and the Hungarian democratic opposition in supporting the country’s transition to democracy. 
 
The Mark Palmer Prize has been awarded to diplomats and international civil servants from around the world, including Peru, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Mongolia, Sweden, Canada, Uruguay, and the United States. The prize is made possible through the generosity of the Mark and Sushma Palmer Legacy Fund, established by Dr. Sushma Palmer in loving memory of her late husband. 

Nomination Form

Criteria  

Nominations for the Mark Palmer Prize should document the diplomat or official’s extraordinary achievements in and support for advancing democracy and human rights, including one or more of the following: 

  1. Demonstrated support for civil society’s right to freedoms of assembly, expression, and other principles as outlined in the Warsaw Declaration of the Community of Democracies. 

  2. Supported efforts to ensure broader political participation. 

  1. Contributed significantly to ensuring free and fair elections. 

  1. Sustained efforts to support human rights, including actions that resulted in the release of prisoners of conscience or an end to cruel and inhuman punishment. 

  1. Facilitated a broader dialogue on democratic reform. 

  1. Coordinated effective international efforts to advance democracy. 

  1. Identified and articulated the importance of democratic values, despite working in a closed/authoritarian society. 

  1. Contributed innovative ideas and support for the consolidation of democratic institutions in countries in transition. 

  1. Upheld the idea of the rule of law in countries where it is not practiced. 

Deadline 

Submit by December 1, 2025. 

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to create a world where all are free. We inform the world about threats to freedom, mobilize global action, and support democracy’s defenders.