Gold Mercury grants the prestigious Gold Mercury Awards® for outstanding achievements in eight Global Governance challenge areas. Winners are among the most recognised and respected figures and institutions in the world. Gold Mercury was founded in 1961 on the initiative of “Centro Giornalistico Annali”, an independent association of journalists devoted to the promotion and exchange of economic cooperation. The first Gold Mercury Awards were presented in Rome in November of that year. Since the founding of the Gold Mercury Organisation in 1961, Gold Mercury Awards have been bestowed upon leading figures and institutions in politics, business and civil society such as U.S. President Ronald Reagan, H.M. King Juan Carlos I, H.E. Anwar Sadat President of Egypt, Soichiro Honda, UNICEF, International Red Cross and many more.

History

The award, initially called 'Mercurio D'oro', was bestowed upon Italian companies and individuals that showed good governance initiatives. It became increasingly influential, receiving the official patronage of the President of the Italian Republic. Its mission was to publicly acclaim Italian companies for productivity and innovation by granting an official acknowledgement. For each company one key motivation was used: “for the development of corporate initiatives for trade, production and economic cooperation among countries in order to foster commerce and peace”.

Gold Mercury adopted as its symbol the famous statue of Hermes, “Mercurio”, the mythological Greek messenger of the gods and patron of trade and travellers. The statue of Mercury, on which the Gold Mercury Award statue is based, was designed in 1564 circa by the Flemish sculptor Jean Boulogne, “Gianbologna” and presently resides at the National Museum of the Bargello in Florence.

Award Process

The Gold Mercury Award nomination and selection process involves prominent experts and leaders from around the world to select the most worthy candidates in each award category.

Candidate Nomination

Phase 1 of the nomination and selection process is undertaken by the Gold Mercury Award Nomination Committee. The Nomination Committee is comprised of highly distinguished experts and leaders in each of the eight award category areas. They come from professional backgrounds such as academia, government, corporate boards and civil society. Nomination Committee members are divided into sub-committees according to their field of experience. In the first step of the nomination and selection process, committee members individually nominate a candidate in their designated award category.

Candidate Screening

The second phase of the award nomination process is the compilation of a list of nominees in each category. Gold Mercury International internally evaluates the nominations and composes a recommendation report for the Gold Mercury International Advisory Board.

Selection of Winners

In Phase 3, the International Advisory Board reviews the recommendation report and confirms the winner in each category.

Announcement of Winners

At a chosen date Gold Mercury announces the winners.

Award Categories

Gold Mercury traditionally awarded achievements in four main areas: Peace, Industry & Commerce, Media and Humanitarian work. In today’s globalising world we are faced with an increasing number of issues and problems that defy state boundaries and go beyond the capacity of any single individual or state to solve. In order to recognise outstanding achievements in today’s most relevant Global Governance challenge areas, we have reviewed our awards and introduced four new categories in addition to our traditional four. The new categories are: Corporate Governance, Health & Science, and Social & Economic Policy.

Gold Mercury Cooperation & Development Award is granted to individuals, companies and organisations that promote trade and invest in developing economies in order to provide better living standards to local people. In order to be eligible for the Gold Mercury Cooperation & Development Award, the candidate must have promoted trade or made investment that has resulted in a higher living standards or recognisable improvements in the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people.

Gold Mercury Corporate Governance Award is given to corporations and institutions with responsible and forward looking corporate rules and practices. In order to be eligible for the Gold Mercury Corporate Governance Award, the candidate must have laid a solid foundation for management and oversight, promoted ethical and responsible decision-making, ensured financial integrity, and recognised obligations to stakeholders, the environment and society as a whole.

Gold Mercury Environment Award is given to global corporations, organisations and individuals for their contributions to environmental sustainability. In order to be eligible for this award, candidates must either strongly support or uphold environmentally friendly practices or have found new ways of further protecting the environment.

Gold Mercury Health & Science Award rewards individuals, organisations and corporations for significant achievements within the health sector. In order to be eligible for an award in this category, the candidate must have made crucial advances or technological progress in one or more areas that have implications for people’s health and well-being.

Gold Mercury Humanitarian Award is given to individuals and organisations to recognise their humanitarian efforts. In order to be eligible for an award in this category, the candidate must have advanced basic human rights of a certain population such as the right to health, education, shelter or subsistence.

Gold Mercury Information & Media Award recognises and rewards excellence within all fields of the information and media industry. In order to be eligible for an award in this category, the candidate must have shown a true commitment to honest, impartial and open communication of information, through written, oral, visual or electronic channels.

Gold Mercury Peace & Security Award is given to individuals for their contributions towards peaceful co-existence and cooperation. Peace is generally defined as the absence of war or violence. In order to be eligible for an award, the candidate must therefore have made a clear, demonstrable effort towards improving relations between people and decreasing the likelihood of armed conflict or violence.

Gold Mercury Social & Economic Policy Award is bestowed upon individuals, institutions and states to reward their efforts and achievements in promoting good social and economic policies. In order to be eligible for the Gold Mercury Award, the candidate must have developed or put into practice an economic model or theory that promotes stability between the state and society and social well-being.

External Links

The Official Gold Mercury International Site 1