On 11 February 2020, the Council of Europe North-South Prize laureates were announced in Lisbon. The winners are Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo, Italy, and Nabila Hamza a sociologist, feminist activist and expert specialized in gender issues, social development and good governance from Tunisia.

The prize awarded to Mayor Orlando recognises his efforts in supporting the integration of migrants and the reinforcement of human rights and rule of law at the local level. In 2015, he created the "Palermo Charter" to defend the right to international mobility and the "Council of Cultures", an advisory body made up of members elected by migrants to give them a voice in politics.

“The City of Palermo, which I have been leading for years, and myself as Mayor, we are both committed in a political-cultural action that aims at the affirmation of a new humanism on the basis of the motto “I am a person, we are a community. In this connection, the spread of the culture of hospitality takes on primary importance, in order to promote the transition from migration as a suffering to transnational mobility as a fundamental human right”, said Mayor Orlando in his acceptance letter.

The award ceremony is expected to take place in May 2020 at the Portuguese Parliament, in the presence of both laureates. The North-South Prize is awarded each year since 1995 to two candidates who have stood out for their exceptional commitment to promoting North-South solidarity. The candidates, preferably a man and a woman, must have distinguished themselves in the following areas: protection of human rights, defence of pluralist democracy, public awareness raising on issues of global interdependence and solidarity.