Young Cádiz native Begoña Arana Álvarez has won the 2019 Princess of Girona Foundation (FPdGi) Social Award. The winner’s name was announced on 6 March at an event presided over by Her Majesty the Queen of Spain and attended by around 400 people at the San Francisco Cultural Complex in Cáceres. The jury praised the award winner for “her social commitment from a very early age, which she complemented with a process of training that has provided her with tools to improve the situation that surrounds her.”
The jury also highlighted “her management capacity and resilience in rebuilding a resource, Nuevo Hogar Betania, aimed at generating opportunities in a highly vulnerable socioeconomic context,and in a historic moment that calls for model spaces where people can come together and feel part of a more dignified and just world.” In a message delivered during the event and after hearing about the FPdGi’s recognition of her work, Begoña Arana thanked the Foundation for its award because, she said, it would help her to“continue fighting for a much fairer society and for greater equality in ensuring fundamental human rights.” Begoña Arana joins the growing list of the Foundation’s Award winners in this category, which includes Pere Barri Soldevila, doctor and 2011 winner; Edgar Vinyals Rojas, social entrepreneur and 2012 winner; Felipe Campos Rubio, director of Itaca Educational Association and 2013 winner; Mohamed El Amrani, social entrepreneur and 2014 winner; Héctor Colunga Cabaleiro, from the Mar de Niebla Foundation in Gijón and 2015 winner; Luz Rello Sánchez, linguist, founder of Change Dyslexia and 2016 winner; Míriam Reyes Oliva, architect, founder of the NGO Aprendices Visuales and 2017 winner, and Arancha Martínez Fernández, promoter of the NGO It Will Be and 2018 winner.
The jury was formed of Joaquín Alcalde (director of the NGO Cives Mundi); Roser Batlle (educator and social entrepreneur), who chaired the jury; Antoni Bruel (general coordinator of the Spanish Red Cross); Consuelo Crespo (former president of UNICEF Spain); José Moncada (founder of Bolsa Social); Sebastián Mora (university professor); Father Ángel (president of the NGO Mensajeros de la Paz); Maravillas Rojo (president of Abacus) and Héctor Colunga, who acted as secretary.
Biography
Begoña Arana Álvarez (La Línea de la Concepción, Cádiz, 1985) graduated in Social Work and has a degree in Criminology and Public Safety from the University of Cádiz. She has completed various postgraduate studies related with social services, public safety and conflict resolution. From the age of 17, Begoña has worked with the most disadvantaged people, dedicating much of her time to searching for alternatives to improve life for those most in need, in places such as Algeciras Penitentiary Centre and as a member of the Campo de Gibraltar child and youth protection team.
Begoña is the director of Nuevo Hogar Betania, a non-profit association set up in 2011 whose mission is to welcome anyone who finds themselves in a situation of social exclusion, such as homeless people, inmates and former inmates, immigrants, women who have been the victims of human trafficking, etc. The winner was chosen for “her social commitment from a very early age, which she complemented with a process of training that has provided her with tools to improve the situation that surrounds her.”
The jury also highlighted “her management capacity and resilience in rebuilding a resource, Nuevo Hogar Betania, aimed at generating opportunities in a highly vulnerable socioeconomic context, and in a historic moment that calls for model spaces where people can come together and feel part of a more dignified and just world.”
