The Aegis Trust was founded by brothers James and Stephen Smith, as a progression from their establishment of Beth Shalom, the UK Holocaust Memorial Centre, in 1995.
Troubled by the repetition of genocidal violence, the Smiths responded by initiating a regional aid appeal in the East Midlands.
The award is intended to honour individuals who, by actions in contrast to the majority, demonstrate a respect for human life that transcends ideology, politics, expediency, personal or career interests and even personal safety, under circumstances in which people's lives are threatened because of their identity as part of a group subject to mass violence.
Canadian Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire was the recipient of the inaugural Aegis Award, for his efforts as UN Force Commander in Rwanda to prevent or curtail the Rwandan genocide of 1994, despite being ordered by his superiors on three occasions to withdraw.
Peter Hain MP, then Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (UK), at Westminster Central Hall in London - symbolic as the venue for the very first General Assembly of the United Nations in 1946.