São Paulo – Egyptian Heba El-Sewedy received the 2025 Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, presented by the India-based non-governmental organization Harmony Foundation. The award honors individuals and institutions that stand out for humanitarian, social, and solidarity initiatives and is inspired by the values upheld by the Catholic missionary Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
According to information published on the Vatican News website, the award is officially recognized by the Missionaries of Charity, the religious congregation founded by Mother Teresa. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and was known worldwide for her commitment to peace and human dignity. She died in 1997 and was later canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
According to Vatican News, the award ceremony took place on Sunday (21) in Mumbai, highlighting Heba El-Sewedy’s humanitarian leadership in providing care for burn victims and her work to give them a second chance at life. Heba El-Sewedy is the founder and chair of the Ahl Masr Foundation, a nonprofit organization in the Middle East and North Africa dedicated to the care, prevention, and research of trauma and burn injuries.
During the clashes of the Arab Spring in Egypt in January 2011, El-Sewedy took for herself the responsibility for caring for 4,000 burn victims. She also helped war-wounded patients from Libya. According to Vatican News, in addition to founding the organization, the Egyptian humanitarian went on a few years later to establish Ahl Masr Hospital, a burn-specialized facility with a research center in the field.
“I feel deeply honored to receive the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice, which is especially dear to me for three reasons. First, because it bears the name of Mother Teresa. Her life taught us that true service is measured not by greatness, but by sincerity. Receiving an award in her name is both an honor and a responsibility, which I accept with humility,” El-Sewedy said upon accepting the prize. She added that it also represents recognition of a neglected cause—another reason—and that it was awarded on the birthday of her late son Ismail, a third, more personal reason.
El-Sewedy was recognized as a humanitarian leader. Other figures were also honored for different aspects of their work, including Denis Mukwege, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for his efforts to provide healthcare support to victims of rape and sexual violence, and Safeena Hussain, for her work to reduce gender inequality in education and to empower girls in India.
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Translated by Guilherme Miranda
