STOCKHOLM — Two activists from Congo and New Zealand and a doctor from Australia on Tuesday won the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “alternative Nobel,” for work to protect rain forests, improve women’s health and rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Congolese activist Rene Ngongo, Alyn Ware of New Zealand and Australian-born Catherine Hamlin, who has been based in Ethiopia for five decades, each will receive $74,000, the Right Livelihood Foundation said.
An honorary award — without prize money — went to Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki, 73, for raising awareness of climate change.
Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull founded the awards in 1980 to recognize work he felt was being ignored by the Nobel Prizes.
The citation said the 47- year-old Ware has campaigned against nuclear weapons at the U.N. and through a world network of lawmakers.
Asked to compare the two awards, Ole von Uexkull, the foundation’s executive director and nephew of the prize founder, noted that Ware had campaigned against nuclear weapons for 25 years, while U.S. President Barack Obama had yet to translate words into action.
