WASHINGTON, DC – The Atlantic Council will honor Dr. Madeleine Albright, 64th US Secretary of State; Aryana Sayeed, Afghan singer, songwriter, woman/human rights activist, and TV personality; Bana Alabed, Syrian activist and author of Dear World; and the International Women’s Media Foundation with its annual Freedom Awards on June 23 in Berlin, Germany.

All four distinguished honorees will attend and speak at the Awards.

“As we prepare to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Freedom Awards in Berlin this year, it is an important time to reflect on the past and to ask ourselves what exactly “freedom” means in this era of unprecedented global change,” said Frederick Kempe, Atlantic Council President and CEO. “Our 2018 class of honorees span different regions, industries, and generations, but together they exemplify the courage, passion, and dedication that we believe is sorely needed to build a global community firmly rooted in the fundamental causes of freedom, democracy, and human rights.”

The Atlantic Council Freedom Awards recognize extraordinary individuals and organizations that defend and advance the cause of freedom around the world. Inaugurated in Berlin on the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, the 2009 Freedom Awards recognized the efforts of the American, German, Polish, Czech, and Slovak people, as well as the allied troops of NATO, to bring about a peaceful end to the Cold War.

Secretary Albright will be honored for her championing of global democracy and exemplar of the power of diplomacy in achieving solutions to the most pressing challenges facing our world; Aryana Sayeed will be recognized for her achievements as a life-long champion of women’s rights and gender equality, and her musical platform which has inspired a generation of future women leaders in Afghanistan and around the world; Bana Alabed will be honored for her use of social media to bring global attention to the plight of children in rebel-held areas of Syria; and the International Women’s Media Foundation will be celebrated for its leadership in supporting and advancing the critical work of women journalists.

The 2018 Freedom Awards will be hosted alongside the Atlantic Council’s 360/OS Open Source Summit, which will bring together journalists, activists, innovators, and policymakers from around the world for interactive sessions and hands-on trainings to explore one of the new frontiers of freedom, the digital space. Over two days, participants will harness the power of open source, social media, and digital forensic research to identify, expose, and explain disinformation in a rapidly-evolving information environment.

For more information on the Freedom Awards, please visit http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/events/freedom-awards/ or contact Sarah Bedenbaugh at sbedenbaugh@atlanticcouncil.org.