Right Livelihood Award Winners (Alternate Nobels) Announced

[EFerrari]

from Amy's headlines:

2010 Right Livelihood Award Winners Announced

And the 2010 Right Livelihood Awards have been announced with four recipients.

The Nigerian environmental activist Nnimmo Bassey of Friends of the Earth International has been honored for opposing "the practices of multinational corporations in his country and the environmental devastation they leave behind" and "for his inspired work to strengthen the environmental movement in Nigeria and globally."

Catholic Bishop Erwin Kraeutler was cited for a "lifetime of work for the human and environmental rights of indigenous peoples" in Brazil. Kraeutler helped win protections for indigenous rights in Brazil’s constitution and has been a leading opponent of the Belo Monte Dam.

Shrikrishna Upadhyay of Nepal was chosen "for demonstrating…the power of community mobilisation to address the multiple causes of poverty even when threatened by political violence and instability.” Upadhyay is the founder of a group that’s helped finance hundreds of water systems, rural roads and schools in Nepal, as well as hand out loans.

And the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights has been awarded "for their indomitable spirit in working for the right to health for all people in Israel and Palestine."

The Right Livelihood Awards are awarded annually and are widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize."

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Rights activists share Alternative Nobel

STOCKHOLM – Activists from Nepal, Nigeria, Brazil and Israel were named the winners Thursday of this year's Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "alternative Nobel," for work that includes fighting to save the Amazon rain forest and bringing health care to Palestinians cut off from services.

The recipients will split the euro200,000 ($270,000) cash award founded by Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull in 1980 to recognize work he felt was being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100930/ap_on_re_eu/eu_sweden_alternative_nobel_5

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from the website



The 2010 Right Livelihood Awards: True change starts at the grassroots level!

Jakob von Uexkull, Founder and Co-Chair of the Right Livelihood Awards, noted after the jury decision:

“True change starts at the grassroots level: physicians who did not wait for politicians before acting to end unnecessary suffering in the Middle East; villagers who work themselves out of poverty; and environmental movements which unite the victims of ecological devastation. Combine this work on the ground with targeted advocacy, for example for the constitutional rights of indigenous people, and you understand why this year’s Right Livelihood Award Laureates yet again offer role models, whose work and commitment can be replicated throughout the world.”

Bassey surrounded by journalists during climate talks in Copenhagen, Dec 2009



Kräutler (middle) marching against Belo Monte dam


Upadhyay (left) discussing with irrigation user group in Makwanpur



Dr. Hassan Matani operating on a Palestinian villager in a class room, Burin village, Nablus district
Picture: Muchamad Abu Ali


http://rightlivelihood.org/