The international Sylvia Michel Prize is sponsored by the Reformed Church of Aargau, it announced today. It will go to South America, to Chile, for the first time in 2020. The prize will be presented in Zug on March 8, 2020. It is intended to promote women in leadership positions in the church.
For more than 30 years, award recipient Cecilia Castillo Nanjari has campaigned against domestic violence and for social and economic equality of opportunity as fundamental elements for women's human dignity.
Promotion of women at various levels
Cecilia Castillo has worked for the Latin America program of Mission 21 for several years. She uses her experience in faith-based organizations (FBOs), helping to develop strategies to achieve fair working conditions and economic empowerment for women, as well as gender justice in general. She is still connected to Mission 21 today as a staff member of the Latin American Church Federation (CLAI), a partner organization of Mission 21.
Currently, Cecilia Castillo is also working for more justice and against violence in Chile. Together with other representatives of churches and FBO, she delivered an open letter to Chilean President Sebastián Piñera on October 22. As a "Network for Life and Dignity," the organizations call on the government to listen to the needs of the population and call on the authorities and the population to renounce violence.
