One of the Roosevelt Foundation’s goals is to increase young people’s engagement with and awareness of our freedoms. That is why the Youth for Freedom Award is being presented for the first time this year. Eleanor Roosevelt stated that human rights begin in small places, close to home, such as at school and in the neighborhood. That idea also serves as the inspiration for the Youth for Freedom Award. With this award, the Roosevelt Foundation recognizes young people who are actively committed to our freedom and aims to make other young people aware of their own potential to advocate for human rights.

Deel de Duif 

Deel de Duif is an initiative that was launched in October 2023 at the official residence of Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema. Jewish and Muslim residents gathered there for a discussion about polarization, dialogue, and mutual understanding. This meeting was organized in response to Hamas’s incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent response in Gaza. Four young participants decided that this conversation should not end with that single evening. Noa, Oumaima, Selma, and Boaz - two Jewish and two Muslim youths - launched the initiative and, together with David, now form Deel De Duif. 

Deel de Duif is dedicated to strengthening dialogue, connection, and solidarity by offering workshops and guest lectures at schools and universities. Through media appearances and discussions with politicians, the initiative has quickly built a wide reach.

Selma Boulmalf, one of the founders on behalf of Deel de Duif: “It is a tremendous honor to receive this award. With our initiative, we want to encourage young people to engage in conversation. We see this award as recognition of the importance of young people staying connected with one another in a world of great contrasts.”

The Roosevelt Foundation sees Deel de Duif as a powerful example of young people taking responsibility, daring to have difficult conversations, and actively contributing to a society centered on freedom and understanding.

Hugo de Jonge, chariman of the Roosevelt Foundation: “It takes a great deal of courage, dedication, and perseverance to continue engaging in dialogue, building bridges, and bridging the divide at such a young age and despite resistance. Deel de Duif is an inspiration to all of us, and to young people in particular.” 

Four Freedoms Awards 

For more than forty years, the Four Freedoms Awards have been presented to individuals and organizations whose lives and work are dedicated to the ideals proclaimed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his historic Four Freedoms speech. In this speech, he asserted that everyone, everywhere in the world, has a right to four fundamental human rights: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. After 85 years, Roosevelt’s words have lost none of their value or significance. 

This year, the Four Freedoms Awards are being presented to President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Ukrainian people (International Four Freedoms Award), Gisèle Pelicot (Freedom from Fear Award), the Committee to Protect Journalists (Freedom of Speech Award), Isidora Uribe Silva (Freedom from Want Award), and Deel de Duif (Youth for Freedom Award). The recipient of the Freedom of Worship Award cannot be publicly disclosed for security reasons.