Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan, and their organisation
LAFTI (Land for the Tillers’ Freedom) (India), who receive an Award “for two
long lifetimes of work dedicated to realising in practice the Gandhian vision of
social justice and sustainable human development, for which they have been
referred to as ‘India’s soul’.”
Amy Goodman (USA), founder and award-winning host of Democracy Now!,
a daily grassroots, global tv/radio news hour, is honoured “for developing an
innovative model of truly independent political journalism that brings to
millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the
mainstream media.”
Asha Hagi (Somalia) The Jury honours Asha Hagi “for continuing to lead at
great personal risk the female participation in the peace and reconciliation
process in her war-ravaged country.“
Monika Hauser (Germany), gynaecologist and founder of medica mondiale,
receives an Award “for her tireless commitment to working with women who
have experienced the most horrific sexualised violence in some of the most
dangerous countries in the world, and campaigning for them to receive social
recognition and compensation.”
Background
Founded in 1980 the Right Livelihood Awards are presented annually in the
Swedish Parliament and are often referred to as ’Alternative Nobel Prizes’.
They were introduced “to honour and support those offering practical and
exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”.
Jakob von Uexkull, a Swedish-German professional philatelist, sold his
business to provide the original funding. Since then, the Award has been
supported by individual donors. The prize money is currently SEK 2 million
(approx. USD 300,000/EUR 210,000).
