At events ranging from university lectures to high-level award ceremonies, the 2017 Aurora Prize Laureate introduced international audiences to the Initiative and its many activities. In addition, a series of bilateral conversations and roundtable discussions with the humanitarian community allowed for exchanges and reflections on the Initiative's achievements, role and potential future.
The purpose of this tour was not only to get the word out about Aurora; it was also a “listening tour” about where the organization’s focus on the “unsung heroes” – those frontline humanitarian workers who operate in their local communities and risk their lives to provide health and education services in oftentimes forgotten conflict zones – fits into the broader humanitarian system. Also, Aurora continues to widen its geographic scope, by hosting own events in Europe and the US.
During his visits, Dr. Catena met with students as well with experts from the humanitarian sector, all of whom were interested in Aurora’s vision of giving a voice to those who fall between the cracks of today’s humanitarian system. He gave lectures and joined panel discussions at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Governance, Cambridge; Tufts Medical Center, Boston; Boston Medical Center, Boston; the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Rockefeller University, New York; University of Southern California, Los Angeles; University of California, Los Angeles; and Imperial College’s Institute of Global Health Innovation, London.
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Doctor Tom Catena with USC students he met with during his tour as inaugural chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. |
Among other notable individuals, he held conversations with António Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Fatou Bensouda, Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court; Deng Deng Hoc Yai, Minister of General Education and Instruction of South Sudan; Thomas Silberhorn, Deputy Minister of Defense of Germany; Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; David Miliband, former Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom; Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, former Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP); and Maria Shriver, former First Lady of California.
Dr. Catena joined the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative in December 2018 during a period of significant growth. As part of his role at Aurora, which he holds in addition to this work as Medical Director of the Mother of Mercy Hospital, he is responsible for engaging key humanitarian stakeholders, working with global partners and overseeing the organization’s educational and outreach projects, including the internationally recognized Aurora Prize.
Aurora was established three years ago, and has impacted the lives of displaced individuals, children in conflict zones, refugees, migrants and vulnerable citizens around the world. Since 2016, the Aurora Prize has awarded over $3.3 million to unsung heroes and has supported 23 projects in 11 areas of humanitarian assistance globally. This year, the Aurora Prize supported over 375,000 Rohingya refugees. A further 62 students from conflict areas have been recipients of the Aurora Gratitude Scholarships program to study at United World Colleges around the world and the American University of Armenia.