The ceremony will take place on Wednesday 4 June at the BFI Southbank in London and will also be livestreamed here

‘I am passionate about freedom of expression. We must champion those who take risks to help make the world a fairer, more truthful and peaceful place’ – Emeli Sandé

Amnesty International UK is thrilled to announce that award-winning singer-songwriter Emeli Sandé will be performing at the Amnesty Media Awards 2025.

Emeli, a multi-award winning and internationally acclaimed singer and songwriter, is a long-standing supporter of Amnesty UK, and is passionate about social justice with a focus on women’s rights and the plight of refugees.

She has sold 19 million singles – of which three were UK No.1 hits - six million albums and won four BRIT awards. In 2018, Emeli received an MBE for Services to Music and in July 2019, she became the University of Sunderland’s Chancellor. 

Emeli said:

“I’m very much looking forward to performing at the 2025 Amnesty Media Awards. It's a great privilege to have the opportunity to play a part in celebrating such brave, extraordinary individuals.

“I am passionate about freedom of expression. We must champion those who take risks to help make the world a fairer, more truthful and peaceful place."

“The work of organisations like Amnesty is more vital than ever and I’m honoured to be there to celebrate the courageous work of journalists who put themselves at great risk to speak truth to power.”

Amnesty’s Media Awards recognise the vital role journalists play and the serious risks they face in highlighting human rights abuses around the world and holding power to account.

At a time when courageous journalism has never been more important, Amnesty UK believes it is more important than ever to honour the brilliant and brave work of journalists who use their voices and platforms to shine a light on injustice around the world – often while putting their own lives at risk.

This year’s awards, spanning 11 categories, will be hosted by actor, writer and director Jolyon Rubinstein. Al-Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh will also be giving a speech on the importance of press freedom on the night.

Finalists were picked from over 200 entries by an internal panel of experts from Amnesty International.

The shortlist represents the very best of human rights journalism coming out of the UK from the last year, across a broad range of global human rights issues from a variety of outlets.

Entries are judged by a panel of prestigious external and internal experts from across the media landscape.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony taking place at the BFI Southbank on Wednesday 4 June 2025. The ceremony will be also be livestreamed here.