The Committee of Good Will – The Olga Havel Foundation (VDV) will ceremonially award the thirty-first Olga Havel Award in May. The prestigious award will be given to an individual who, despite their health handicap, helps others. The public can nominate candidates for this year’s award via an online form on the website www.cenaolgyhavlove.cz from February 1 to April 1, 2025. The award ceremony will take place on May 26 in Prague.
“The legacy of Olga Havel, who founded the Committee of Good Will in 1990 as one of the first charitable organizations in our country, is still relevant. This year, the foundation celebrates 35 years of its successful existence,” says VDV Director Monika Granja. “The Olga Havel Award is also part of this legacy. Ms. Olga first announced it in 1995 with the aim of recognizing people with health disabilities who, despite their handicap, selflessly help others. The award also has another dimension. It draws attention to individual health diagnoses that are often on the fringes of politicians and the public’s interest, and to the problems associated with them,” explains Monika Granja.
A jury appointed by the foundation’s board of directors will decide who will become this year’s laureate of the award and receive the bronze sculpture “Encouragement” by Olbram Zoubek. Since 2017, the VDV has also awarded the Public Award as part of the Olga Havel Award, the winner of which can be voted for online. Like the winner of the Olga Havel Award, the winner of the Public Award will be presented at a gala event to be held on May 26 in the Prague Castle Ballroom.
Last year, Doris Průšová received the award for her efforts to help create jobs in the regular labor market for people with disabilities and to break down barriers between healthy and disabled employees. She works in the Troublegang team, which is part of the Employment Agency for People with Disabilities O KROK. The team of professionals seeks out opportunities for people with disabilities to apply themselves in the labor market, and provides consultations to companies on how to prepare a job with regard to a specific type of disability. So far, the team has managed to employ more than 80 disabled people. The Public Award was won by Michaela Linková for her extensive work on behalf of patients with rheumatic diseases. Daniela Bláhová, chairwoman of the Prague organization ROSKA, and Jaroslav Winter, operator of the HELPNET portal, were also nominated for the Public Award.
The nomination form can be found here: https://www.cenaolgyhavlove.cz/nominace/
Further information about the Olga Havel Award and its laureates can be found here: https://www.cenaolgyhavlove.cz/