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NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

PO Box 15072, 104 65 Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46-8-702 03 40 Fax: +46-8-702 03 38
E-mail: press @ rightlivelihood.org, info @ rightlivelihood.org

Press Conference & Award Ceremony with Recipients of 2008 Right Livelihood Awards in Stockholm on Monday, Dec 8

WASHINGTON

A press
conference with the Recipients of this year's Right Livelihood Awards
will take place in Stockholm on Monday, Dec 8th. The Award Ceremony
will be held the same day at 6 pm in the 2nd Chamber of the Swedish
Parliament.

Four women will come to Stockholm to receive the Awards:

Krishnammal Jagannathan (India),
who receives the Award together with her husband Sankaralingam
Jagannathan and their organisation LAFTI (Land for the Tillers'
Freedom) "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."

Founded in 1980, the Right
Livelihood Awards are presented annually in the Swedish Parliament 'to
honour and support those offering practical and exemplary answers to
the most urgent challenges facing us today'.

Press Conference Details

Press conference with Laureates and Jakob von Uexkull, Founder and Chairman of the Award:

9.30-11.30 am, Monday 8 December International Press Centre at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Fredsgatan 6, Stockholm

Only for journalists - please bring your press card!

Award Ceremony on December 8

The
Right Livelihood Awards will be presented in the Swedish Parliament on
Monday, 8 December, at 6 pm. A number of seats will be available for
the press. Please note that the Swedish Parliament requires special press accreditation. Journalists who do not have this accreditation need to contact the Right Livelihood Award Foundation latest on Monday morning (info @ rightlivelihood.org, or +46 8 70 20 340).

If you bring filming equipment, please contact us. Please note that we ask film teams to arrive at the Parliament building by 5 pm.

The programme for the Ceremony looks as follows:

  • Opening words by Liselott Hagberg, Deputy Speaker of Parliament
  • Sven Bergstrom, M.P., Head of the Society for the Right Livelihood Award in Parliament, SARLA, welcome
  • Jakob von Uexkull, Founder and Chair of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, speech & presentation of the 2008 Awards
  • 18.45 (rough estimate): Break, photos of the Recipients can be taken at this time
  • Laureates'
    speeches. Each Laureate will be introduced by a board member of the
    Support Group for the Right Livelihood Award in Parliament (SARLA).

Attention Broadcasters: Videos available

For streaming and broadcast-standard video supporting this press release, please visit www.thenewsmarket.com/rightlivelihood. Further videos
with interviews and shots from the press conference will be uploaded
during Monday (Dec 8) afternoon, a video from the first part of the
Award Ceremony will be uploaded later that day. If you are a first-time
user, please take a moment to register. In case you have any questions,
please email journalisthelp @ thenewsmarket.com.

During the Award Ceremony, a live signal from the Parliament is expected to be offered via the Eurovision network.

Close up on the Laureates

Amy Goodman is going to broadcast her show Democracy Now! from Stockholm
on Dec 8 and 9, 14.00-15.00 GMT+1. Journalists are welcome to attend.
The show will be sent from ABC Newsfeeds studio i Vasastan,
Surbrunnsgatan 32, www.abcnewsfeed.se.

For information on the Laureates' programme, please see https://www.rightlivelihood.org/programme_2008.html.

The Right Livelihood Award was established in 1980 to "honour and support courageous people solving global problems". It has become widely known as the 'Alternative Nobel Prize' and there are now 182 Laureates from 72 countries.