"There are now 133 winners from 57 countries and this educational initiative will be to offer programmes that will support them in passing their special pioneering knowledge to a new generation" announced Mr. Jacob von Uexkull, the founder of the prize and President of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation (RLAF).
He added that "this initiative is made possible thanks to the cooperation of USM, which has kindly and generously offered to host the global Secretariat. We resonate with USM because it has the distinction of being the first APEX (Accelerated Programme for Excellence) university in Malaysia committed to transforming higher education for a Sustainable Tomorrow".
He also announced that the Director of the College will be Anwar Fazal, a 1982 Recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and a member of the Jury that awards the prizes. He will concurrently hold the position of Professor at the USM Center for Public Policy and International Studies (CenPris), which is headed by former Ambassador, Azhari Karim.
Tan Sri Professor Dzulkifli Razak, Vice Chancellor of USM stated that USM was honored to be selected to be the global hub and to have Anwar Fazal on the team. He stated USM will be fully supportive of this venture which is aimed at education, scientific research, public understanding and practical activities which will:
•contribute to global ecological balance,
•aim to eliminate material and spiritual poverty,
•contribute to lasting peace and justice in the world
The Director of the College, Professor Dato' Anwar Fazal stated that the initiative is planning to include lectures by Laureates, Scholarships and Internships, International courses, "The Alternative Nobel Prize" series of books, documentary films, "days of action" series to promote such United Nations days as World Biodiversity Day, World Peace Day and World Health Day.
The Penang Secretariat will also spearhead upscaling of such programmes with relevant institutions all over the world. Already discussions are being held with partners in Africa, Europe and Latin America.
A Memorandum of Understanding will be signed between the University Sains Malaysia and the Right Livelihood Award Foundation at a special ceremony at USM on Thursday, 8th January 2009.
Notes:
1. Further information on the Universiti Sains Malaysia can be found on www.usm.my. The press release on USM’s APEX University award is available on this link
http://www.researchsea.com/html/article.php/aid/3518/cid/1/research/univ...
2. Further information on the Right Livelihood Award Foundation which is based in Sweden, can be found on www.rightlivelihood.org.
Four recipients shared the of the 2008 Right Livelihood Award of SEK 2 million. A summary from www.righlivelihood.org is copied below.
Krishnammal and Sankaralingam Jagannathan, and their organisation LAFTI (Land for the Tillers' Freedom) (India), who receive an Award "for two long lifetimes of work dedicated to realising in practice the Gandhian vision of social justice and sustainable human development, for which they have been referred to as 'India's soul'."
Amy Goodman (USA), founder and award-winning host of Democracy Now!, a daily grassroots, global tv/radio news hour, is honoured "for developing an innovative model of truly independent political journalism that brings to millions of people the alternative voices that are often excluded by the mainstream media."
Asha Hagi (Somalia) - The Jury honours Asha Hagi "for continuing to lead at great personal risk the female participation in the peace and reconciliation process in her war-ravaged country."
Monika Hauser (Germany), gynaecologist and founder of medica mondiale, receives an Award "for her tireless commitment to working with women who have experienced the most horrific sexualised violence in some of the most dangerous countries in the world, and campaigning for them to receive social recognition and compensation."
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For further information please contact the following persons:
Associate Professor Azhari Karim, Acting Director of USM Center for Public Policy and International Studies (CenPris) or Professor Dato'Anwar Fazal, Director, Right Livelihood College at +604-6533389 or by email on [email protected] (Professor Dato'Anwar Fazal only).
