I feel Ruth Manorama is hughly inspiring and socially-effective.
AT
INDIAN AWARDED THE ALTERNATIVE NOBEL PRIZE FOR TENTH TIME
STOCKHOLM, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 (IANS) Indias advocate for Dalit
womens causes, Ruth Manorama, has been today awarded the 2006 Right
Livelihood Award, universally known as the Alternate Nobel Prize, in
Stockholm, Sweden.
Ruth Manorama becomes the 11th Indian to receive this most prestigious since
its inception 1980. Among the other distinguished Indian laureates feature
Medha Patkar and Baba Amte of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada
Movement), 1991 and the Chipko Movement, 1987.
Ruth Manorama shares the 2006 Right Livelihood award of two million SEK with
Chico Whitaker, Brazil and Daniel Ellsberg, USA
During a ceremony at the Swedish Foreign Ministrys press room, the founder
of the awards, Jakob von Uexkull, declared: Ruth Manorama is the Indian
sub-continents most effective organiser of and advocate for Dalit women,
belonging to the scheduled castes sometimes also called untouchables.
The Jury honours Manorama, a Dalit herself, for her commitment over
decades to achieving equality for Dalit women, building effective and
committed womens organisations and working for their rights at national
and international levels. The 2006 Right Livelihood Awards honour pioneers
for Justice, Truth and Peace building.
He went on: The 2006 Right Livelihood Awards call on us all to speak up
and act now for truth, non-violence and justice. The recipients demonstrate
how individual courage, even in the face of powerful interests and
repression, can bring about remarkable changes.
Founded in 1980 the Right Livelihood Awards are presented annually in the
Swedish Parliament and have come to be known 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
(USD 275,000/EUR 220,000).
Ruth Manorama , along with her co-Laureates will be awarded the Diploma and
her share of the prize-stipendium by the Speaker of the Riksdag, the Swedish
Parliament, in the parliaments main hall, on December 6, 2006.
Explaining the spirit of his endeavour, Jakob von Uexkull: Everybody in the
world can nominate anyone for the award. Over the years, we have received
nominations from more than 95 countries. It is fascinating to see how
people all over the world take action to build a positive future for
mankind. Those, whose work has the greatest importance and impact, are
chosen by our international jury to receive the award.
Our aim is "to honour and support those offering practical and exemplary
answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today", he said.
Members of this years jury include: Jakob von Uexkull; Ahmedou Ould
Abdallah (Mauritania), Special Representative of the UN Secretary General
for West Africa; Marianne Andersson (Sweden), former Member of Parliament;
Monika Griefahn (Germany), Member of Parliament; Frank Bracho (Venezuela),
former ambassador; Anuradha Mittal (USA), The Oakland Institute; Vithal
Rajan (India), Deccan Development Society.
Alfred de vTavares,
0046 8 759 6214; 0046 70 n295 4091
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