Fartuun Adan (pictured) and Ilwad Elman are Somali human rights defenders.
Photo: dpa/Right Livelihood Foundation | Courtesy of Elman Peace
It has a certain regularity: almost always at least one of the four winners of the Alternative Nobel Prize has already received due recognition in the »nd«. In 2019, along with Greta Thunberg, Davi Kopenawa, shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami indigenous people living in the Amazon region in Brazil, also received the Alternative Nobel Prize. The “nd” had interviewed him ten years earlier. This also applies to the Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege, who received the Alternative Nobel Prize in 2013 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his commitment to combating sexual violence against women. As early as 2008, the “nd” reported on the Panzi Hospital, which he manages and is the province’s only contact point for victims of rape.
In 2022 it is the Venezuelan collective Cecosesola (Central de Cooperativas de Lara) that is well known to the readers of »nd«. For its 50th birthday in 2017, »nd« dedicated a long report to the cooperative. It said: ‘Cecosesola, a cooperative network comprising about 20,000 people in different states organized into 40 cooperatives, will be 50 years old this December. Over time, it has created a large number of commons around the basic needs of the population: three large and several smaller weekly markets in Barquisimeto, a community clinic and decentralized medical care in some parts of the city, a funeral home – all at fair prices for both consumers as well as producers/service providers. And what is particularly important in the current crisis that Venezuela is going through: our own production of food and basic necessities of all kinds, from vegetables to pasta or muesli to cleaning supplies.« The crisis in Venezuela will continue in 2022, even if it is this year there was a slight improvement in supply and a fall in inflation.
Lizeth Carolina Vargas Cambero is active in the Cecosesola cooperative.
Photo: dpa
Cecosesola received the award »for the development of a fair and efficient community economy as an alternative to the profit-oriented economic model«. The network has grown steadily over the past 55 years and is “an inspiration for everyone who is looking for alternative economic approaches,” according to the Alternative Nobel Prize Committee.
It was obvious that in 2022 a prizewinner from Ukraine, which was exposed to a war of aggression, should not be missing. The excellent choice fell on the Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matwijtschuk. Matviychuk received the award “for building sustainable democratic institutions in Ukraine and shaping a path to international prosecution of war crimes,” the Stockholm-based Right Livelihood Foundation announced on Thursday.
As chair of the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL), which was founded in 2007, Matviychuk is helping to strengthen Ukrainian civil society and state democratic structures and is committed to promoting national and international law, the foundation said in its statement. It documents human rights violations and war crimes and thus paves the way for social and legal reappraisal, which has been of particularly great importance since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Oleksandra Matviychuk is a prominent Ukrainian human rights defender
Photo: dpa/Right Livelihood Foundation
The Africa Institute for Energy Governance (Afiego) from Uganda received the Alternative Nobel Prize for its courageous commitment to climate justice. The organization supports communities in defending themselves against environmentally harmful projects in oil and gas production. Through lobbying, media campaigns, and local and international legal action, Afiego has ensured that community voices are heard by decision-makers, Right Livelihood said.
Other award winners are the Somali human rights activists Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman – mother and daughter – who support survivors of gender-based violence with their organization Elman Peace, rehabilitate former child soldiers and enable women and young people to gain vocational training and leadership skills.
The 2022 award winners will be honored at a live broadcast event in Stockholm on Wednesday 30 November.
Dickens Kamugisha is Managing Director at Afiego in Uganda.
Photo: /dpa/Right Livelihood Foundation | Mutale Joshua
The Alternative Nobel Prize recognizes commitment to human rights, freedom of the press, civil liberties and environmental protection. It was established in 1980 by the Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexküll, and the foundation is now headed by his nephew Ole von Uexküll.
The prizes are each endowed with one million Swedish crowns (around 100,000 euros). The money is intended to support the work of the awardees and not for personal use. with agencies
