Responsibility Award
The Responsibility Award
is an annual prize established by the Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation in 2021 to recognize civil society organizations that ground their daily work in the values enshrined in Bohdan Hawrylyshyn’s Declaration of Human Responsibilities.
The award aims to promote the principles of human responsibilities in Ukrainian society by honoring the proactive efforts of organizations that are building Ukraine across various social spheres.
The award was announced on October 19, 2021, when Ukraine marked Human Responsibility Day at the national level for the first time, following its adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in July of that year.
The award’s value foundation is the Declaration of Human Responsibilities, created by Bohdan Hawrylyshyn in 2014 – a document comprising 15 principles that serve as guide toward a more democratic, inclusive, and effective society.
In 2022, following the start of the full-scale war, the Award was dedicated to all Ukrainians in gratitude for their fight. The prize fund and donations raised through the #demine_to_save_lives initiative were directed toward purchasing equipment for sappers.
From 2023 to 2025, organizations were recognized in three categories: “A Story of Responsible Partnership: Communities,” “National Partnership Project,” and “Collaboration Without Borders: Ukraine to the World.”
Past laureates include Come Back Alive, Building Ukraine Together, Friends of the Sant’Egidio Community, Ukraїner, Docudays, Kolo, the Stepan Tarabalka “Discover Your Dream” Foundation, Memorial, Strichka, and the Cherkasy City Institute.
In 2023–2024, a special media project was co-created with the 3MIN Foundation, dedicated to the stories of shortlisted organizations. In 2023, it was produced with The Ukrainians Media; in 2024, in collaboration with #ShoTam and Gastrosensy.
A new feature of the 2025 Responsibility Award was the introduction of special recognitions from partners. The value of this format lies in providing additional visibility for the work and partnership stories of organizations on the Award’s Long List. Award partners select an organization for recognition based on the Award’s criteria-based evaluation as well as their own priorities and areas of activity.
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