Alternative Nobel Prizes go to Canada, Malaysia and Botswana
This year's Alternative Nobel Prize, endowed with two million Swedish kronor, goes to the two Canadians Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke, Irene Fernandez in Malaysia and the organization First People of the Kalahari and its co-founder Roy Sesana in Botswana. The Mexican artist Francisco Toledo received the honorary award for his commitment to protecting and promoting the original culture and nature of his homeland of Oaxaca.
Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke receive the award for their "outstanding and long-term commitment to fair trade and the fundamental human right to water", so the reasoning of the jury. Barlow, 58, was active in Canada's women's movement for many years, even serving as an advisor on women's issues to President Pierre Trudeau in the early to mid-1980s. In 1985 she was a founding member of the civil rights movement Council of Canadians, of which she has been honorary chair since 1988. The 60-year-old social ethicist Clarke worked for many years on social law issues for the Catholic Bishops' Conference. Since 1987 he has worked closely with Barlow on many projects. Both are highly recognized experts on issues of globalization and alternative trade models. In recent years, they have focused their commitment on the fight for safe drinking water supply and sanitation in developing and emerging countries. With appearances in Uruguay, Barlow made a significant contribution to the success of an initiative that led to the anchoring of drinking water supply and sanitation as human rights in the Uruguayan constitution.
For "her outstanding and courageous initiative to stop violence against women and the abuse of migrants and poor workers", Malaysian Irene Fernandez receives the Alternative Nobel Prize. In her work, the human rights activist refuses to be slowed down by the threat of imprisonment on false charges of "malicious dissemination of false news". Born in 1946, she initially taught as a teacher before she gave up teaching in 1970 and devoted herself to the problems of young workers. Among other things, she initiated the establishment of workers' associations and trading companies within free trade zones and promoted the rise of women in the labor movement. Her commitment to combating violence against women resulted in several laws. In other projects she fought against the use of pesticides and sustainable agriculture. In 1991 she founded the organization Tenaganita, which takes care of the rights of guest workers.
The Bushmen Association "First People of Kalahari" is recognized for their "resolute resistance to eviction from their ancestral homeland and struggle to preserve their original way of life", so the opinion of the jury. Roy Sesana cites the Gana, Gwi and Bakgalagadi, making it one of their most eloquent speakers. Born in Molapo, Sesana worked in South Africa for a number of years before returning to his home country, where he trained as a traditional healer. In 1991 he was one of the co-founders of the First People of Kalahari, which took care of defending the human and land rights of the Bushmen. It gained particular influence when the Botswana government tried to resettle the local peoples in a reserve with drastic measures in 1997 and 2002. Since then, the activists have been monitored by the state, and numerous supporters have been mistreated or imprisoned. Despite this, 248 Bushmen have now sued the Botswana government over the land expropriation and are now conducting a kind of test case against the state, which is symbolic of the struggle of many indigenous groups worldwide. However, due to a formal error, the process was adjourned in April 2002 and is unlikely to be heard before 2006. Sesana and at least 21 other Bushmen were arrested on September 24 and he has since been released on bail.
Francisco Toledo, who was born in Oaxaca in 1940, combines numerous international and local elements in his paintings and sculptures - from dream images of his childhood, pre-Columbian symbolic figures to the Mexican animal world and famous Shaping the story through to references to the work of Miro, Klee, Goya, Dürer and many more. He also fights tirelessly to preserve the culture and nature of his homeland: through his commitment he prevented the construction of motorways, hotel complexes and a cable car to the holy mountain Monte Alban or a McDonalds branch in the town's central square. He also founded various museums, including one for the blind, and cultural centers. In 1993 he was one of the founding members of an association dedicated to the protection and promotion of art, culture and ancient architecture and the surrounding nature of his hometown.
