The late Somali Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari, is the name patron of the “Bari-Bari-Award”. This yearly prize is granted by the Canadian NGO “Under the same sun” in recognition of organisations that have produced the most impactful results in albinism advocacy.

 This year, the award goes to SINASRA (“Support in Namibia of Albinism Sufferers Requiring Assistance”), which celebrates this honor on the “International Albinism Awareness Day” at the School for Visually Impaired in Khomasdal.

 SINASRA received funding of N $ 225,000.00 from the micro-projects fund of the German Embassy last August for the purchase of special telescopic spectacles and sunglasses. Today (13 June), the glasses and sunglasses donated by the German Embassy have been handed over to the affected persons.

Background information:

Since 2015, the International Albinism Awareness Day takes place every year on 13 June. This day was proclaimed by the UN and serves primarily to educate about the congenital metabolic disorder that leads not only to particularly light skin, hair and eye color, but also to the lack of pigmentation in the retina and iris of the eyes.

People with albinism face multiple forms of discrimination worldwide. The International Albinism Awareness Day aims to increase global awareness of the human rights situation of people with albinism.