The Director of Yonge Nawe Environment Action Group, Thuli Brilliance Makama, has been awarded the Goldman Environment Prize for Africa in recognition of her work in challenging malpractices in environmental management in Swaziland.
According to UN figures, 69% of Swaziland's population of one million live below the poverty line, surviving on less than $1 per day. We have been working with Yonge Nawe for more than 20 years to build the organisation's capacity to achieve their vision of a Swazi society in which a healthy environment is valued, natural resources are used sustainably and everyone enjoys a good quality of life.
Skillshare International Programme Director Senelisiwe Ntshangase said, "Over the last decade environmental issues have achieved increasing prominence worldwide, with vast media coverage and high profile events such as the Copenhagen Climate Conference raising awareness at every level. We work in partnership with locally-based organisations that are making a determined and daily effort to protect the rights of people in their own communities to live healthy lives free from fear and free from want, as well as protecting and preserving precious natural resources which many communities depend on for their livelihoods and survival."
Find out more about Thuli's inspirational work and the Goldman Environment Prize at www.goldmanprize.org/2010/africa
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Makama, who received her award on 19th April 2010, says: “I defend the rights of local communities to participate in environmental decision-making so that future generations may benefit.”
The Goldman Environment Prize was created in 1990 to recognise the efforts of grassroots environmental heroes from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South and Central America, and Islands and Island nations in protecting and enhancing the natural environment. The prize seeks to inspire other people to take extraordinary actions to protect the natural world.
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