Palestinian activists and UK research agency among human rights award recipients
3 October 2024, 09:04
Created in 1980, the annual Right Livelihood Award honours efforts that the Swedish-German prize founder felt were being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.
The Right Livelihood Award was awarded on Thursday to three activists from the Palestinian territories, the Philippines and Mozambique and to a UK pioneering research agency who “have each made a profound impact on their communities and the global stage”.
“Their unwavering commitment to speaking out against forces of oppression and exploitation, while strictly adhering to non-violent methods, resonates far beyond their communities,” the Stockholm-based foundation said about the laureates.
It considered 176 nominees from 72 countries this year.
Issa Amro, a human rights activist in the occupied West Bank and his group, Youth Against Settlements, were awarded the prize “for their steadfast non-violent resistance to Israel’s illegal occupation, promoting Palestinian civic action through peaceful means”.
In the Philippines, indigenous activist Joan Carling was cited “for raising indigenous voices in the face of the global ecological breakdown and her leadership in defending people, lands and culture”.
Anabela Lemos, a Mozambican environmental activist and director of Justica Ambiental!, was honoured for “empowering communities to stand up for their right to say no to exploitative mega-projects and demand environmental justice”.
It is the first time the award has gone to Mozambique.
Based at Goldsmiths, University of London, Forensic Architecture was cited “for pioneering digital forensic methods to ensure justice and accountability for victims and survivors of human and environmental rights violations”.
Created in 1980, the annual Right Livelihood Award honours efforts that the prize founder, Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, felt were being ignored by the Nobel Prizes. To date, 198 laureates from 77 countries have received the distinction.
“The 2024 laureates demonstrate the power of non-violent resistance and truth-telling, placing decision-making into the hands of local communities,” said Ole von Uexkull, the nephew of the prize founder and the organisation’s executive director.
Previous winners include Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Mr Matviichuk and Mr Mukwege received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 and 2018, respectively.
The 2024 laureates will be given their awards on December 4 in Stockholm. The size of the prize amount was not announced.
The foundation said that “the award comes with long-term support to highlight and expand laureates’ work”.
