Children rights charity wins $1 million humanitarian prize

MILAN — An international children rights charity based in Switzerland has been awarded the 2018 Balzan Prize for humanitarian achievement.

The Balzan Foundation announced Monday that Terre des Hommes will receive 1 million Swiss francs ($1 million) for a project in the African nation of Mali to save infants during childbirth and help their mothers. The foundation said the project could be replicated on a larger scale in other countries.

While the Balzan Foundation awards prizes of 750,000 Swiss francs ($770,000) each year in four otherwise overlooked disciplines — two humanities and two scientific — the humanitarian award is given less frequently, at least every three years.

This year, prizes were awarded for social anthropology, global history, chemical ecology and fluid dynamics.  /kga