On 10 September 2020, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the Board of Trustees Meeting of the Princess Srinagarindra Award Foundation Under the Royal Patronage at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bangkok, to finalise decisions on the Princess Srinagarindra Award Laureate 2020.
The Princess Srinagarindra Award Foundation under the Royal Patronage held a joint press conference after the Board of Trustees Meeting to announce the Princess Srinagarindra Award Laureate 2020. On this occasion, Associate Professor Dr. Tassana Boontong, Secretary-General of the Princess Srinagarindra Award Foundation, together with Mr. Cherdkiat Atthakor, Director-General of the Department of Information and Ms. Patama Lerdwittayasku, Director of Communications of Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bangkok, were present at the press conference.
This year, the Princess Srinagarindra Award 2020 is awarded to Ms. Fadwa Ahmed Affara from the United Kingdom for her outstanding contribution to nursing and midwifery.
Ms. Affara has been an inspiring academic and demonstrated a leading role in her field. She has been determined to support the nursing organisations around the world, especially in low and middle-income countries and East Mediteranian countries, to establish the nursing regulations and nursing education that is equivalent to Bachelor’s degree, and to develop the Advanced Practice Nurse concept as well as strengthen capacities of their nursing profession to meet the international standards. Ms. Affara also initiated competency-based nursing education and has promoted transformative education that cater to changes in health system, and the need and context of each country.
Ms. Affara has worked closely with World Health Organization (WHO) to push forward nursing policies and help the national nursing organisations to be able to implement important outcomes of the World Health Assembly meetings and transform them into policies, strategies and plans of action at the national level. She has worked with other academics on the International Classification of Nursing Practice (ICNP) project to internationalise nursing vocabulary and was responsible for the establishment of network of advanced nurse practitioners, as well as the specification of work procedure and competency of advanced nurse practitioners. Ms. Affara also helped establish the International Council of Nurses (INC) Mobile Library, currently having more than 300 locations in 17 African countries.
During the global COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Affara also co-established the COVID-19 Africa Action Network for Nurses and Midwives to promote access to practical guides and training courses through World Continuing Educational Alliance, as well as access to personal protective equipment (PPE), and seek funding to support the work of nursing organisations and nursing councils of countries around the world.