Two women human rights defenders in Somalia, Fartuun Adan and her daughter Ilwad Elman, as well as Ukrainian lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk and her Center for Civil Liberties were awarded the Right Livelihood prize on Thursday 29 September.
The Swedish foundation, whose award is considered an alternative Nobel Prize, also crowned Cecosesola, a network of organizations providing goods and services to low-income areas in Venezuela.
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As well as the Africa Institute for Energy Governance, based in Uganda and empowering communities to oppose environmentally damaging projects related to oil and gas development.
“
In the face of failing governments and collapsing order, including wars, terrorism, mass displacement and economic crises, they have put in place new, human-centric systems
” , said in a press release Ole von Uexkull, the director of the foundation.
Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman were rewarded for their work to "
promote peace, demilitarization and human rights in Somalia in the face of terrorism and gender-based violence
".
The two women lead initiatives aimed in particular at rehabilitating former child soldiers and helping victims of gender-based violence.
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Oleksandra Matviichuk and the Center for Civil Liberties, of which she is president, were awarded "
for building lasting democratic institutions in Ukraine and for modeling a path to international accountability for war crimes
".
The organization also works on the documentation of human rights violations and in particular on the war crimes perpetrated since the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow.
The Cecosesola organization was awarded “
for establishing a fair and cooperative economic model as a robust alternative to profit-driven economies
”.
Finally, the Africa Institute for Energy Governance received the 2022 award for its “
courageous work for climate justice and community rights violated by energy extraction projects in Uganda
”.
The Right Livelihood Prize was established in 1980 by German-Swedish Jakob von Uexhull after the Nobel Foundation turned down his proposal to create two new prizes for environment and development.
To date, the prize has recognized 190 laureates from 74 countries.
It is endowed with 1 million crowns (about 90,000 euros) for each of the winners.
