COPENHAGEN (AP) – The Right Livelihood Award – known as the “Alternative Nobel” – was awarded yesterday to environment activists from Kenya and Cambodia, a human right defender from Ghana and a humanitarian group that rescues migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.
The 2023 laureates “stand up to save lives, preserve nature and safeguard the dignity and livelihoods of communities around the world”, the award foundation said, adding that they “fight for people’s right to health, safety, a clean environment and democracy”.
This year’s prize went to Phyllis Omido from Kenya and the groups Mother Nature Cambodia and SOS Mediterranee.
The prize winners will share a cash prize but for security reasons its size cannot be disclosed, the award foundation said. The 2023 honorary award was given to Eunice Brookman-Amissah from Ghana.
“They care for their land and each human life connected to it: be it Indigenous communities or people risking their lives to get to safety,” Head of the Stockholm-based Right Livelihood foundation Ole von Uexkull said in a statement.
The Cambodian advocacy group was cited for its “fearless and engaging activism to preserve Cambodia’s natural environment in the context of a highly restricted democratic space”, while the non-profit charity that operates in international waters north of Libya was credited with carrying out “life-saving humanitarian search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea”.
Kenyan grassroots environmental activist Omido received the award “for her groundbreaking struggle to secure land and environmental rights for local communities while advancing the field of environmental law”, it said.
