Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) presented the 2015 Defender of Democracy Awards to Ambassador Martin Sajdik (Austria). The awards ceremony was hosted by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador, on the evening of November 30th, 2015 at the National Museum of Anthropology, in conjunction with PGA’s 37th Annual Parliamentary Forum: ‘The Role of Parliamentarians in Support of Peace and Security’.

The Defender of Democracy Award is presented to individuals who, through their own commitment and active engagement, have made significant progress in strengthening democracy and democratic practices. Past recipients include Judge Navanethem Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia; Ms. Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2014.

This year, PGA honored Ambassador Martin Sajdik of Austria for his distinguished efforts to establish democratic governance and rule of law in the future development agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by founding and chairing the “Friends of the Rule of Law” at the UN and serving as President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN in the 18 months before the adoption of the SDGs in September 2015 by the UN General Assembly.

Ambassador Martin Sajdik was appointed Special Representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe(OSCE) Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine on 22 June 2015.  Prior to this, Amb. Sajdik served as the Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations, the People’s Republic of China, Mongolia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He is the author of several books on the European Union.