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2007 Right Livelihood Awards highlight solutions to
global challenges
The 2007 Right Livelihood Award of SEK 2 million is
shared between four Recipients, who show that there exist practical
solutions to pressing global challenges: Christopher
Weeramantry (Sri Lanka) is a world-renowned legal scholar, best
known for his landmark International Court opinion on the threat and use
of nuclear weapons. The jury honours “his lifetime of groundbreaking work
to strengthen and expand the rule of international
law”. Dekha Ibrahim Abdi (Kenya) has engaged
in effective peace work and conflict resolution in many of the world’s
most divided countries. The Jury commends her “for showing in diverse
ethnic and cultural situations how religious and other differences can be
reconciled, even after violent conflict, and knitted together through a
cooperative process that leads to peace and
development”. Percy and Louise Schmeiser
(Canada) have given the world a wake-up call about the dangers to
farmers and biodiversity everywhere from the growing dominance and market
aggression of companies engaged in the genetic engineering of crops. The
Jury honours the Schmeisers “for their courage in defending biodiversity
and farmers’ rights, and challenging the environmental and moral
perversity of current interpretations of patent laws”. The
company Grameen Shakti (Bangladesh) has shown that solar
energy applications can be scaled up massively and rapidly to provide an
affordable and climate-friendly energy option for the rural poor. The Jury
commends Grameen Shakti “for bringing sustainable light and power to
thousands of Bangladeshi villages, promoting health, education and
productivity”. Quote Jakob von Uexkull: “The 2007 Right
Livelihood Award Recipients highlight existing solutions for today’s
world: Dekha Ibrahim Abdi and Christopher Weeramantry demonstrate how war
and terror can be overcome by peace-building and the rule of international
law. The Schmeisers and Grameen Shakti show us how to protect two
essential services of our global ecosystem: our agricultural resources and
our global climate.”
Background: The
Right Livelihood Award Foundation is a Swedish charitable foundation that
has so far presented Awards to 123 Recipients from 56 countries. The
presentation takes place in the Swedish Parliament, with the support of
Members of Parliament from all political parties. The Awards
were founded in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull “to honour and support those
offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges
facing us today”. Since then, the Award has been supported by individual
donors. The total prize money is SEK 2 million (USD 310,000/EUR
220,000). The Right Livelihood Awards are often referred to
as “Alternative Nobel Prizes”. Interview
partners: At the press
conference: Marianne Andersson, Member of the Board and Jury of the
Right Livelihood Award Foundation Sven Bergström, Member of the Swedish
Parliament, Chairman of the Society for the Right Livelihood Award in the
Swedish Parliament Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right
Livelihood Award Foundation Telephone interviews on
October 2: Christopher Weeramantry: +94 11 255 50 28 or +94 11 250
02 29 Dekha Abdi: +254 721 91 58 53 and +254 733 98 25 29 Percy and
Louise Schmeiser: +1 306 369-2520 Dipal Barua, Managing Director of
Grameen Shakti: office +88 02 80 11 222, home +88 02 80 58 122, mobile +88
1713 500 500 Jakob von Uexkull: +44 7780 67 23 74 Ole von Uexkull
(afternoon): +46 8 70 20 337 For TV interviews with
satellite link from Stockholm please contact: Ole von Uexkull: +46
8 70 20 337 / +46 8 70 20 339 Important
dates: A press conference with the Recipients will
be held in Stockholm on Thursday, December 6th at 9:30 am. The award
presentation ceremony in the Swedish Parliament will be held on December
7th at 6 p.m.
Further information and photos of
the Recipients can be downloaded from www.rightlivelihood.org |