A BURUNDIAN activist credited with saving thousands of children’s lives during a 12-year ethnically charged civil war is the first recipient of a new humanitarian prize presented by Hollywood actor and campaigner George Clooney.

    Marguerite Barankitse, a former teacher, founded the Maison Shalom (the house of peace) orphanage in eastern Burundi in 1993 to house a growing number of children orphaned during the conflict that devastated the country until 2005.

    The award was presented as the small central African country faces its worst crisis since the civil war ended with hundreds killed and thousands forced to flee abroad.

    “Our values are human values,” Barankitse said in a statement after receiving the award from Clooney, co-chair of the prize selection committee, in the Armenian capital Yerevan, late Sunday.

    Barankitse will receive a US$100,000 grant and plans to donate an extra US$1 million award to three organizations that help children.(SD-Agencies)