This year’s awards considered 175 nominees from 77 countries before deciding on winners. Previous laureates include Edward Snowden, Dr. Denis Mukwege and Greta Thunberg.
By DW
Sep 29, 2022
Change-makers from around the world have been recognized by the Right Livelihood Awards for the role they’re playing in trying to make the world a better place.
This year, 175 change makers from 77 countries were considered for the award, which has been dubbed the alternative Nobel Prize.
The laureates were announced in Stockholm and presented by Ole von Uexkull, executive director of the Right Livelihood Award.
Right Livelihood Award laureates 2022
Prominent Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk and the Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) won the award “for building sustainable democratic institutions in Ukraine and modelling a path to international accountability for war crimes.”
As Chairwoman of the CCL, Matviichuk and the organisation are considered to have been instrumental in strengthening Ukrainian civil society and national institutions for over a decade.
They have documented war crimes and human rights violations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and seek to hold the perpetrators to account.
Matviichuk told DW that within seven months of Russian large-scale aggression against Ukraine, only her joint initiative had documented more than 19,000 episodes of war crimes. “It shows us that it is systematic, has large-scale character, and Russia uses war crimes as the method of warfare,” she said.
From Somalia – mother and daughter duo Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman were honored “for promoting peace, demilitarisation and human rights in Somalia in the face of terrorism and gender-based violence.” The pair are also human rights defenders and lead community-based peacebuilding initiatives while offering support to marginalized communities.
Operating through their oranization Elman-Peace, the mother and daughter support survivors of gender-based violence, disarm and rehabilitate child soldiers and help develop leadership skills among womean and youth.
The Africa Institute for Energy Governance in Uganda (AFIEGO) won for its opposition to projects that seek to exploit Uganda’s oil reserves.
“When the government knows that there are people around the world who appreciate our work, they think twice about attacking us or our communities,” said Dickens Kamugisha, the CEO of AFIEGO.
According to Kamugisha, oil industry is not bringing jobs or opportunities for Ugandans. “What we have been asking government to do is to look at the green economy, opportunities that create sustainable and long-term benefits,” he told DW.
The Cecosesola organization in Venezuela was honored “for establishing an equitable economic model as an alternative to profit-driven economies.”
Cecosesola is a network of community organisations from low-income areas that produces and provides affordable goods and services to more than 100,000 families across seven Venezuelan states.
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Read More: DW – Right Livelihood Awards: Ukrainian, Somali, Ugandan, Venezuelan groups win for promoting peace, democracy, climate protection, equality
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