Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

The 2023 laureates face off against social taboos around abortion in African countries, Cambodia’s authoritarian regime and corrupt businesses, a growing humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea, and unsafe industrial practices in Kenya to demand a liveable future for all. For more on the Right Livelihood Award and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/97238E26-A05A-4A7C-8A98-0D267FDDAD59

The 2023 Right Livelihood Award goes to:

Eunice Brookman-Amissah, who is a Ghanaian physician whose leadership has been instrumental in advancing safe abortion access across Africa. For three decades, she has spearheaded high-level advocacy, sensitisation programmes and training on women’s reproductive rights. Her efforts have successfully united healthcare providers, government officials, lawyers and activists in support of abortion law reforms in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Benin, Eswatini and Kenya, and abortion law implementation in Ghana, Zambia, Malawi, Senegal and Mauritius, among others.

When Brookman-Amissah began her advocacy, the term abortion was too taboo to mention, let alone champion at high-level forums. Nonetheless, she tirelessly raised the issue to empower women, enhance their autonomy, improve their health, and ultimately, create an environment where they can thrive personally and professionally. Brookman-Amissah is a pioneer in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

Mother Nature Cambodia is the country’s pre-eminent youth-led environmental rights organisation, working on the frontlines with local communities to preserve nature and livelihoods even in the face of a growing government crackdown on civil society activism. Using innovative techniques such as viral videos, training and the mobilisation of young Cambodians nationally and locally, Mother Nature Cambodia has helped highlight and stop environmental violations. Successful campaigns include stopping the Chinese-led construction of a hydroelectric dam threatening an Indigenous community and helping end the largely corrupted business of sand export from the coastal estuaries of Koh Kong, which was destroying the local ecosystem and fishing grounds.

Founded in 2012, Mother Nature Cambodia’s small and agile core team works to mobilise against destructive and corrupt construction projects. Indicative of the government’s hostile stance against the organisation, 11 of their activists have been jailed and dozens arrested since 2015, while one staffer and the founder, Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, have been forced to leave the country. Local community members campaigning with Mother Nature Cambodia have also been subject to intimidation, legal harassment and surveillance by the police.

Despite the harassment and constant threat of arrest, the organisation has stayed the course and continued to campaign fearlessly. Highlighting the connection between democracy, human rights and environmental activism, Mother Nature Cambodia has emerged as a beacon of hope for future generations, fighting for the preservation of nature and human rights in Cambodia. [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/d41428d8-4b96-4370-975e-f11b36778f51]

SOS MEDITERRANEE is a European maritime-humanitarian organisation saving people’s lives in the Mediterranean, the world’s deadliest migration route. Carrying out search and rescue operations, the organisation has brought more than 38,500 people to safety since operations began in 2016. SOS MEDITERRANEE follows a strict legal framework based on maritime law, setting high standards for search and rescue operations, and showing that assisting people in distress at sea is a legal obligation.

The organisation, which is an association of four offices located in France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, was founded by civilians in May 2015, in response to the tragic loss of lives in the Mediterranean and the European Union’s inability to effectively address this issue. Pooling resources, the association finances and operates the Ocean Viking rescue ship with a professional crew. Once brought aboard, survivors are provided with medical and psycho-social care. SOS MEDITERRANEE also aims to amplify the voices of survivors by sharing their stories.

The organisation’s unwavering commitment to humanity has not only saved lives but kept the public, European institutions and national governments acutely aware of the realities of the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea. [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/0700f14f-dbb5-4350-8e3f-5e7027294404]

Phyllis Omido is a Kenyan environmental activist leading the battle for the justice and health of the Owino Uhuru community that has suffered from lead poisoning ever since a battery smelting plant began operating in their village. Omido’s use of litigation, advocacy and media engagement has set vital legal precedents, affirming people’s right to a clean and healthy environment and the state’s responsibility to safeguard it.

Omido, dubbed the “Erin Brockovich of East Africa,” initially worked at the battery smelting plant that poisoned her, her son and thousands of Owino Uhuru community members. When the plant owners and government officials refused to act on the environmental impact report she conducted, Omido mobilised the community in protest. Following a 2012 demonstration, Omido was attacked by two men at her home and arrested on unfounded charges of terrorism and inciting violence.

Thanks to Omido’s activism, 17 toxic sites have been closed across Kenya. She has also used her experience to consult the United Nations, leading to a resolution on lead-acid battery recycling in Africa. Determined to spread knowledge on environmental rights far beyond Owino Uhuru, Omido has established a network of 120 grassroots land and environmental defenders (LEDs) across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, empowering and mentoring others to protect their communities. [see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/79079c38-3ac4-4324-9e93-2cfb3f03fb28]

https://rightlivelihood.org/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/28/4-environmental-human-rights-activists-awarded-alternative-nobel-prizes