FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RIGHT LIVELIHOOD AWARDS SEND STRONG MESSAGE TO 1992
EARTH SUMMIT
The Right Livelihood Awards Honor Brazilian Campaigners, Indian and English
Environmental Activists, and Victims of Pacific Nuclear Testing.
The 1991 Right Livelihood Awards will be presented in the Swedish
Parliament on DECEMBER 9th, the day before the Nobel Prize presentations.
These Awards are often referred to as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' and were
introduced in 1980 "to honour and support practicable and replicable solutions
to the most urgent problems facing us today." The idea came from Jakob von
Uexkull, a Swedish-German writer and philatelic expert, who sold his valuable
stamp collection to provide the original endowment. Von Uexkull felt that the
Nobel Prizes have become too narrow and specialized and ignore much work and
knowledge vital for the survival of human-kind.
A Press Conference will be held in London at the House of Commons with
the recipients on December 2nd. There will also be a Press Conference in
Stockholm with the recipients on Thursday, December 5th, 1991. Full details of
the recipients' itineraries, in Sweden and the U.K., will be available upon
request.
The 1991 Right Livelihood Award of $165,000 is shared by:
Two Brazilian land reform organizations, Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST)
and Commissao Pastoral Da Terra (CPT), are honored "for their long-standing and
courageous commitment to winning land for landless families and helping them to
farm it sustainably." Land reform is seen by the Jury as a precondition for
sustainable agriculture, leading to smaller-scale farming and an easing of
peasant pressure to over-use forests and marginal lands.
Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) (India) led by Medha
Patkar and Baba Amte, "for their steadfast opposition to the ecologically and
socially disastrous Narmada dams (the largest river development project in the
world) and their clear articulation of an alternative water and energy
strategy that would benefit both the rural poor and the natural environment."
Bengt and Marie-Thrse Danielsson (Polynesia) and Senator Jeton Anjain and
the people of Rongelap (Marshall Islands). The Jury honors their "resolute
efforts to expose opposition to French and U.S. nuclear colonialism in the
Pacific." The Jury recognizes the Danielssons' active support for Polynesian
self-determination and independence; and Senator Anjain and his people, who
have demanded "that the U.S. make full reparations for the health problems
caused by nuclear radiation and take all steps necessary to return the island
of Rongelap to its people in a safe, habitable condition."
The 1991 Right Livelihood Honorary Award recipient is Edward Goldsmith
(U.K.), who has campaigned for more than two decades "with dedication and
passion against Q and proposed sustainable alternatives to Q inappropriate
development, environmental destruction, the nuclear menace and social
injustice."
The Jury especially commends to the 1992 Earth Summit, the People's
Charter being coordinated by Edward Goldsmith and his colleagues. It is
urgent that the UNCED adopt this document as a basis for truly sustainable
development prior to the actual Summit which will be held June 1-12, 1992,
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
For further details contact:
Right Livelihood Awards
Michelle Syverson & Associates Tel: (510) 524-0795 Fax: (510)524-3735