Dec 10, 2025, 09:07Dec 10, 2025, 09:07
A local leader in Cameroon will receive the highest award from the UN refugee agency UNHCR this year. The Nansen Prize goes to Chief Martin Azia Sodea, who took in more than 36,000 refugees from the neighboring country Central African Republic, as the organization reports in Geneva.
The award honors “extraordinary courage and compassion.” It is named after the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize winner Fridtjof Nansen. The UNHCR calls Sodea a “visionary who touched thousands of people with his humanity and generosity.”
“We are all human”
Sodea did not seal off its town of Gado-Badzéré and the surrounding area in northern Cameroon when refugees arrived. Rather, he allocated land to people so that they could build houses and plant fields for their own needs. He founded joint committees made up of locals and refugees to reduce tensions.
Chief Martin Azia Sodea has taken in more than 36,000 refugees from the neighboring country Central African Republic.image: UNHCR Cameroon (X)
Unrest broke out in the neighboring country in 2013, forcing thousands to flee. According to UNHCR information, around 290,000 people from the Central African Republic had arrived in eastern Cameroon by 2021.
Sodea has also inspired other villages in the region to give refugees a chance at a new life. His message, according to the UNHCR: “We are all human beings and we must take care of each other.” (sda/dpa)