The International Rescue Committee bestows its Freedom Award for extraordinary contributions to the cause of refugees and human freedom. According to the IRC, "The Freedom Award reveals the remarkable ability of an individual to shape history and change for the better a world moving toward freedom for all."
Recipients:
- 1957 - Willy Brandt
- 1958 - Winston Churchill
- 1959 - William Donovan
- 1960 - Richard E. Byrd
- 1965 - George Meany
- 1966 - David Dubinsky
- 1967 - David Sarnoff
- 1969 - Lucius D. Clay
- 1970 - Jacob K. Javitz
- 1975 - Bruno Kreisky
- 1976 - Leo Cherne
- 1977 - Hubert H. Humphrey
- 1978 - Joseph Buttinge
- 1979 - Mary Pillsbury Lord (posthumously)
- 1981 - Lane Kirkland and Irena Kirkland
- 1987 - Elie Wiesel
- 1987 - John C. Whitehead
- 1989 - Sadruddin Aga Khan
- 1989 - Lech Walesa
- 1990 - Violetta Barrios de Chammorro
- 1991 - Fang Lizhi and Li Shuxian
- 1991 - Javier Perez de Cuellar
- 1992 - Cyrus Vance
- 1993 - George Soros - Distinguished Humanitarian Award
- 1993 - Dwayne O. Andreas - Distinguished Public Service Award
- 1994 - Theodore J. Forstmann - Distinguished Humanitarian Award
- 1994 - Felix G. Rohatyn - Distinguished Public Service Award
- 1995 - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - Special Freedom Award Recipent, in absentia
- 1995 - Sadako Ogata
- 1995 - Richard Holbrooke
- 1999 - Madeleine Albright
- 2001 - John McCain
- 2002 - Hamid Karzai
