THE 2009 RIGHT LIVELIHOOD AWARDS

Introduction speeches by Margot Wallström

December 4th, 2009

 

 

Introducing David Suzuki

To be able to communicate complex and sometimes impenetrable research and science issues is easier said than done. To do it well is a gift. To do it well and make it exciting takes brilliance and genius. David Suzuki has that brilliance and genius. And he puts it into exceptionally good use.

"The Nature of Things with David Suzuki", a prime-time show on CBC, Canada’s national broadcaster, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. For three decades, Canadians have trusted David Suzuki on issues of the environment, wildlife, technology and medicine.
•    From Antarctica to the Inuit of the North,
•    from the Chinese Panda to the evolutionary wonders of the Amazon,
•    from the construction of supercars to the fight against cancer,
•    the sale-out of our genes and the disastrous legacies of accidents like the Exxon Valdez catastrophe
– all these stories blast the limits of our everyday perspective. David Suzuki has brought them right into the living room of everyday people.

David Suzuki knows. And he tells. He makes us react. And he makes us act.

In 1990, he established his own foundation. It focuses on five key areas:
•    reconnecting with nature,
•    protecting natural systems,
•    transforming the economy,
•    living neighbourhoods, and
•    protecting our climate.

Climate change has been on his agenda for many years. But he never reduced himself to criticising the lack of action undertaken by, among others, his own government. Instead, the David Suzuki Foundation has been constructive and outlined concrete steps how Canada could become sustainable within a generation.

David Suzuki's credo seems to be "yes, we can – if we know and put our minds to it!".

David Suzuki has dedicated his life to help people understand our increasingly complex world. He provides us with the necessary tools to judge the paths that business, scientists and politics would often like us to follow blindfold. Having this judgment is crucial if we want to survive and ensure our well-being in a world that continues to offer its richness to coming generations.

We have the very great pleasure to present the 2009 Right Livelihood Honorary Award to David Suzuki.

 

Introducing René Ngongo

When René Ngongo grew up in Congo’s rainforests their natural wealth never ceased to stun him. "Those are memories my children won't have," he says. And we are left with the question: why is it always those who have already done most who ask themselves whether their work may have begun too late?
 
René Ngongo was born in 1961 and received his degree in biology in 1987. He soon realised that the rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo are under immense threat from local people who rely on the forests’ resources to sustain their livelihoods. And, of course, also the threat from commercial mining and logging.

René Ngongo concluded that the preservation of the forests could only be achieved by sustainable use, instead of slash-and-burn agriculture. And also by addressing the needs of the people whose lives depend on what the forest can offer them.
 
In the 90ies, René Ngongo began to reach out to local people. He taught them about the impact of deforestation and the advantages of agroforestry – alternative land use models that not only protect the forest but also secure a better income for its people. Other activities included urban tree-planting, reforestation nurseries for the most threatened species, and the distribution of improved cooking stoves, which reduced the need for fuel wood.
 
Then, in 1996, began the devastating civil war. During these violent years, René Ngongo kept monitoring the exploitation of the rainforest’s resources. He soon became a key informant for international organisations on illegal mining and logging. When the war ended, the situation became worse. Because forests were now safer ground for the companies to operate in.

Even today, the situation is highly alarming. There was a government decision which declared that almost two thirds of 156 forest concessions had been illegal. But still some companies continue their activities in total impunity. It is now a focus of René Ngongo’s work to ensure that the government decision gets implemented and to stop illegal logging activities.
 
Not surprisingly, his work has repeatedly put him under immense threat. But René Ngongo is a true example of determination and courage. An example to us all. It is actions like his that may finally preserve one of our most important assets when it comes to natural resources, the ecological heritage of this planet, and our climate: the rainforests.
 
We therefore have the very great pleasure to present the 2009 Right Livelihood Award to René Ngongo.

 

Introducing Alyn Ware

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But Conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?'"

These words by Martin Luther King sum up a lot of Alyn Ware's work and deeds. It is about conscience. It is about asking 'Is it right?' And it is about doing something concrete to make change happen.

Alyn Ware embodies conscience and competence – persistence and passion. Combine that with smartness and strategy, and you have a good description of his achievements.

Alyn Ware is one of these silent but tireless workers for peace. He promoted peace education at schools. He was instrumental in drafting the Peace Studies Guidelines that later became part of the New Zealand curriculum. Solving conflicts in win/win ways is the basic principle that not only sums up his approach at schools, but also his successes on highest levels in politics when it comes to non-proliferation and disarmament.

In the 1990ies, Alyn Ware was Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy and its United Nations Co-ordinator for the World Court Project. The project got the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution that requested an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of nuclear weapons. In its opinion, the Court declared the threat or use of nuclear weapons to be generally illegal.

For many, that would have been enough success. But for Alyn Ware, this was just the beginning. The next step was drafting a resolution calling on the United Nations to implement the Court’s ruling.

Over the last years, this resolution has repeatedly won the support from some 125 nations in the UN General Assembly. Part of it is the call for the negotiation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention to safeguard the implementation of the Court’s ruling on nuclear disarmament. That document was produced by Alyn Ware together with a group of experts. It is an outline of the legal, technical and political measures required to achieve and sustain a nuclear-weapons-free world. This Model Nuclear Weapon Convention has been circulated and promoted by the UN Secretary-General.

Ladies and gentlemen; the Swedish Riksdag is a very fitting location to present the Right Livelihood Award to Alyn Ware. After all, the engagement of parliamentarians from all over the world is central to his work.

Conscience asks the question 'Is it right?' Alyn Ware makes aware.

We have the very great pleasure to present the 2009 Right Livelihood Award to Alyn Ware.

 

Introducing Catherine Hamlin

In 1959, a young woman and her husband left their home country Australia to begin their work as gynaecologists/obstetricians at a hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Soon they were shocked by the prevalence of a disease that they hardly knew: obstetric fistula.

It is a condition that arises from prolonged obstructed labour when the blood supply to the tissues of the vagina and bladder and/or rectum is cut off. The tissues die and a hole forms through which bodily fluids pass uncontrollably. The affected woman remains incontinent of urine, with many suffering bowel incontinence as well.

The permanent odour and shame turns them into social outcasts living under the most miserable conditions. Better obstetric care has made the condition practically disappear in the industrialised world. But in countries like Ethiopia it continues to rid thousands of women of their health, hope and dignity.
 
When Catherine and Reginald Hamlin started their work, there was little treatment available for the condition anywhere in the world. But the couple managed to refine the surgical technique to close obstetric fistulae.

Over the years, they should reach a success rate of 93 per cent! Soon, women started arriving at the hospital from all over the country hoping for the operation that would give them back their lives. Recognising that they needed their own hospital, the Hamlins went fundraising abroad. It took them years until in 1974, Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital was opened. Since then, it has become a global centre of expertise in fistula repair. Up to this date, Catherine Hamlin and her colleagues have treated some 32,000 patients. All treatment was - and still is - free of charge.
 
In recent years, five other regional centres have been built. In addition, there is a rehabilitation centre for women so badly injured that they need long-term care, and a midwifery-training programme to prevent the condition in the first place.
 
Repairing obstetric fistula is a not too complicated. It is not too expensive. But it is life-changing surgery – something we in the industrialised world would take for granted. In Ethiopia, it remains a common disease, and it is the achievement of Catherine Hamlin to have ended the totally unnecessary suffering of thousands of women in her country and to have taught them, again, the meaning of joy.
 
It is therefore with very great pleasure for us to present the 2009 Right Livelihood Award to Dr. Catherine Hamlin.

Unfortunately, Dr Hamlin was not able to come today. To accept the award on her behalf, let me introduce to you Matron Ejigayehu Wolde, Head Nurse at the Hamlin Fistula Hospital in Addis Abeba.