Vigdís Prize for Women's Empowerment 2027 — EUR 60,000 Award

Vigdís Prize for Women’s Empowerment 2027 — EUR 60,000 Award

Status: 2026 closed; 2027 call announced for November 2026

The official Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Prize page confirms that the 2026 call is closed. Nominations had to reach PACE by 27 March 2026, and the Prize was awarded on 22 June 2026 at a ceremony in Strasbourg on the opening day of the Assembly’s summer part-session. This entry is therefore a historical reference for the completed 2026 cycle, not a live route for submitting a late nomination.

The 2026 laureate was My Voice, My Choice, a grassroots feminist movement originating in Slovenia that brings together more than 300 organisations across the European Union around access to safe and accessible abortion. PACE says that in 2025 the campaign gathered more than 1.1 million signatures for a citizen’s initiative, contributing to a European Parliament resolution and a European Commission commitment to use EU funds for abortion services. The two other 2026 shortlisted organisations received diplomas: the Girl Child Counselling Women Group from Kenya and Sasane – Samrakshak Samuha from Nepal. PACE describes the Kenyan group as supporting children, girls and young mothers affected by HIV/AIDS and extreme poverty, while Sasane is a survivor-led organisation working against human trafficking, child marriage, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.

The next cycle is not open yet. PACE has announced that the call for nominations for the 2027 Vigdís Prize will open in November 2026. It has not published the 2027 closing date, nomination form, sponsor form, or upload link. Do not treat the archived 2026 date as a 2027 deadline, and do not invent one from the usual annual pattern. The regulations say that the call is launched each November and that nominations are due in March on a date set for that year, but the 2027 call itself will control the actual date and instructions.

The official Prize page is the place to watch when the 2027 call opens. Because the 2026 upload route belonged to that completed cycle, applicants should use only the new forms and online platform linked from the 2027 announcement.

The Prize at a Glance

What the Prize actually rewards

The Prize is named after Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the former President of Iceland and the first woman in the world elected head of state. The regulations were adopted in 2023, and the first edition was awarded in 2024, making 2026 the third round. That matters for anyone preparing a nomination: the precedent set by the first three laureates is still the clearest guide to what the Selection Panel responds to.

Look at the pattern:

• 2024 — Irida Women’s Center (Greece), a grassroots NGO working with women facing poverty, social exclusion and gender-based violence.
• 2025 — Women of the Sun (Palestine), which builds routes for Palestinian women into politics, business and technology.
• 2026 — My Voice, My Choice (Slovenia / EU-wide), a coalition campaign that converted a mass petition into concrete institutional commitments.

None of these are large, well-endowed institutions. All three can point to something that changed as a result of their work — services delivered, women placed into decision-making roles, a resolution passed, or a funding commitment made. The regulations describe a broad remit: empowering women and girls “in all their diversity”, advancing gender equality and equal access to participation and decision-making, championing women’s opportunities, and encouraging inclusive policies and practice. A strong nomination should therefore show the connection between the nominee’s action and a concrete change, not simply describe an admirable mission.

The EUR 60,000 is real money for organisations of that size — a year of salaries, a legal fund, a security budget, a second site. But the more valuable part is often the standing. A Council of Europe award tends to shorten the distance between a small organisation and the ministries, municipalities and institutional funders that had previously been too busy to reply.

Who can be nominated

Nominees may be individuals or civil society groups, a category the call defines broadly: national or international non-governmental organisations, associations, and private companies. You do not have to be an NGO, and you do not have to be based in a Council of Europe member state — the Prize explicitly covers initiatives “from Europe and beyond”, and both 2026 runners-up were from outside Europe entirely.

Two exclusions are firm: current members of the Parliamentary Assembly cannot be nominated, and deceased individuals are not eligible. The regulations also require at least five sponsors other than the nominee, so a nomination needs outside support even when the nominee is an organisation.

A note on this listing’s regional tag: it says “Africa”, which reflects how the page was originally categorised rather than any restriction in the rules. African organisations are clearly in scope — Kenya’s Girl Child Counselling Women Group was a 2026 runner-up — but so is everyone else.

How nominations work

This is a nomination process, not a proposal-and-budget grant application. You are not submitting a normal project budget or asking PACE to fund an untested idea; you are documenting the nominee’s action and explaining why that action is outstanding. The 2026 process is closed, and the 2027 materials are not published yet, so the steps below describe the verified rules and the preparation that can be done before the new call.

The official page and regulations establish these requirements:

1. Use the current nomination form. When the 2027 call opens, download the form linked from the official PACE Prize page. It will be the authoritative version for nominee details, questions, limits, and the submission route. Do not reuse the 2026 form or an old upload link.
2. Describe the nominee’s action and why it is outstanding. The regulations require details of the action promoting women’s empowerment and the reasons it should be considered outstanding. Build the case around specific work and results rather than a general biography.
3. Secure at least five sponsors. The nomination must be signed by at least five sponsors other than the nominee, using the sponsor form specified for the cycle. Arrange this early because a nomination cannot be completed by one person acting alone.
4. Gather relevant supporting documents. The regulations say that all relevant supporting documents must be provided. PACE’s current page says the supporting documents are uploaded together through the official online platform. Wait for the 2027 call for the exact file and upload instructions.
5. Submit in English or French. These are the two official languages accepted for nominations. Choose one language at the start and make sure the form, sponsor material, and supporting explanation are consistent.
6. Submit before the 2027 deadline. PACE has not published that date yet. Once the call opens in November 2026, record the exact deadline from the official notice and follow the new platform’s instructions rather than relying on this archive entry.

Because each cycle publishes a fresh form and a fresh upload link, do not reuse a previous year’s documents or bookmarked URL. Re-download everything when the 2027 call opens.

How the winner is chosen

The Selection Panel has six independent members with recognised standing in women’s empowerment: three nominated by the Bureau of the Assembly on the proposal of PACE’s Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination, and three nominated by the Government of Iceland. It is chaired by the President of the Assembly or someone they designate. Sitting members of the Assembly cannot serve on the Panel.

Selection runs in two stages. Once eligibility has been checked, the Panel examines the candidacies and selects three nominees for the shortlist. The names are then made public by the President of the Assembly. A second sitting takes place before the Assembly’s June part-session to choose the winner, whose name is announced at the opening ceremony. In 2026, PACE identified the three shortlisted organisations in May, and the two organisations that did not win received diplomas.

What to do between now and November 2026

The call has not opened, which is the best possible time to prepare. Nominations fail on coordination far more often than on writing quality, and coordination is exactly what you can do in advance.

Starting now — build the evidence file. Assemble five to ten concrete outcome metrics: women placed into decision-making roles, policies or practices changed, cases pursued, services delivered, budgets shifted, retention or income figures. Pair each claim with the document that proves it — an evaluation summary, a policy excerpt, a monitoring report, press coverage. A claim without a document behind it will read as an assertion.

In the two months before the call opens — line up sponsors. You need five signatures; approach six or seven people, because one will be travelling when you need them. Choose sponsors who cover different angles rather than five voices saying the same thing: someone who can speak to your impact on the ground, someone who can speak to your governance and credibility, someone who can speak to policy or institutional change, someone who knows your longer track record, and someone who can speak to whether your model transfers elsewhere. Send each of them a one-page briefing so five people do not describe your work five different ways.

November 2026 — download the new pack. When the 2027 call goes live, check the deadline immediately, download the current nomination and sponsor forms, and confirm the upload route and document rules for that round.

Then draft in the submission language. Write in English or French from the start rather than translating at the end; a rushed translation reads like one. Structure the narrative as problem, action, measurable change, and why it matters now. “We increased women’s representation on municipal water committees from 10% to 45% in two years by changing the election rules, running leadership training and moving meeting times to suit caregivers” does work that “we empower women” never will.

Two more things worth building in. First, be explicit about who benefits — rural women, women with disabilities, migrant women, women in informal work, survivors, young women entering politics — because “in all their diversity” is the Prize’s own language and vagueness there is a wasted opportunity. Second, if your work happened under pressure, say so plainly: political backlash, shrinking civic space, conflict, online harassment. The Panel is choosing among organisations that mostly operate in difficult conditions, and how you managed that risk is part of the case.

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2026 round really closed? Yes. Nominations closed on 27 March 2026 and the Prize was presented on 22 June 2026 in Strasbourg to My Voice, My Choice.

When can I nominate someone for 2027? PACE has stated that the call for nominations for the 2027 Prize will open in November 2026. The closing date has not been published, so there is no 2027 application deadline to enter in this page’s metadata yet. Check the official Prize page rather than relying on the archived 2026 date.

Is this a grant or a prize? A prize. EUR 60,000, the “Kvika” trophy and a diploma, awarded for demonstrated impact. There is no project proposal or budget to submit.

Can an organisation be nominated, or only an individual? Both. Individuals, NGOs, associations and private companies are all eligible, national or international.

Do I have to be based in Europe? No. The Prize covers initiatives from Europe and beyond; the 2025 laureate was from Palestine and the 2026 runners-up were from Kenya and Nepal.

Who cannot be nominated? Current members of the Parliamentary Assembly, and deceased individuals.

What is a sponsor? Someone other than the nominee who signs the sponsors’ form in support of the nomination. The regulations require at least five sponsors. The 2027 call may give additional instructions about the form, so use the version published with that call.

Can I nominate myself or my own organisation? The process is built around nominations supported by external sponsors, so the substance of your case has to come from people outside your team regardless. Read the regulations for that year before assuming self-nomination is or is not permitted.

Where to check for the 2027 call

The single authoritative source is the PACE Prize page: https://pace.coe.int/en/pages/vigdisprize. It hosts the regulations, the current call when one is open, and the nomination and sponsor forms for that round. PACE also publishes the call, shortlist, and award announcements on its site. Until the 2027 call appears, this page should be read as a record of the verified 2026 cycle and a preparation guide, not as an active application notice.

Set a reminder for November 2026. Once the call opens, the useful work is mostly the work you did before it — the evidence file and the five sponsors who already know what they are signing.