Over the year, we’ve been working with over 250 global NGO’s. Over 12 million people have already come together in nearly every country on earth to show their support for a climate deal, now. Please sign our giant petition. If you’ve already signed, now is the time to forward it to all your friends. We need to get to 15 million supporters by the weekend to make leaders listen.

Today, the world’s leaders have arrived for an unprecedented 60 hours of direct negotiations. Experts agree that without a tidal wave of public pressure for a deal, the summit will not stop catastrophic global warming of 2 degrees.

Klick here to sign the petition for a real deal in Copenhagen –  we already have a staggering 12 million supporters – let’s make it the largest petition in history in the next 72 hours! Every single name is actually being read out at the summit — sign on and be part of history. Forward this email to everyone.

Jason, Andrew, Ria, Michael, Kate
and the entire TckTckTck team

www.tcktcktck.org

Related posts:

1. On Dec 12 let’s show the World Wants a Real Deal!
2. Saturday, December 5th: Climate Walk and Dance
3. We need a LEGAL agreement in Copenhagen

Related posts:

1. Bill McKibben: We will have more than 4 000 events on October 24th!
2. Join us at Kulturhuset, Stockholm, October 24th!
3. October 24th: Kumi Naidoo will speak at Kulturhuset

The South African social justice campaigner Kumi Naidoo is a board member of the board of GCCA (Global Campaign for Climate Action) which is one of the organizations behind the International Day of Climate Action.

He will come to Ekoteket in the afternoon and speak around 16.50.

Welcome!

(The program for October 24th is presented under the headline Join us at Kulturhuset. You can also look at www.350.org to see what´s going on in Stockholm and other places in 170 countries all over the world)

Related posts:

1. Join us at Kulturhuset, Stockholm, October 24th!
2. Bill McKibben: We will have more than 4 000 events on October 24th!
3. 24 October: 5 200 events to save our planet

For 20 years the world has managed to do very little about the greatest problem it’s ever faced. In three days time, you can help change that–and if you step up you’re going to have a lot of company!

It looks like the International Day of Climate Action this Saturday October 24th will be the single most widespread day of political action the planet has ever seen–we’re closing in on 170 nations, and more than 4000 rallies and events.

There will be climate events from the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef to the summit of Mount Everest.  At each event — at rallies and parties and deep-sea dives — people will take a big photo that somehow depicts the number 350.  Our crew at 350.org will be taking these thousands of photos, projecting them on the giant screens in New York’s Times Square, and delivering them directly to hundreds of world leaders and politicians in the coming weeks.

There’s almost certainly an event happening near you–if you’re not sure what, this link will let you find out quickly and easily:

www.350.org/map

People in all those cities and towns all around the world will be saying the same thing: science tells us that we can’t have more than 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere if we want a planet like the one we were born onto. That sounds complicated, but it isn’t–350 is the bottom line for the earth.

Please take a moment to forward this along to everyone you know in your community and around the world, and ask them to find an event near them to take part on on this important day: www.350.org/map

Thanks for everything you do,

Bill McKibben for the 350.org Crew

P.S. We’re simply astonished by the viral growth of this movement in the last couple of weeks–can you spare 15 seconds and two mouse-clicks to share the momentum with everyone you know on Twitter and Facebook? Many many thanks.

Related posts:

1. 24 October: 5 200 events to save our planet
2. Join us at Kulturhuset, Stockholm, October 24th!
3. October 24th: Kumi Naidoo will speak at Kulturhuset

The global day of action will be a day full of activities in and around Kulturhuset in the city center of Stockholm. Seminars, workshops and cultural events will take place in Ekoteket between 11AM and 5PM

Outside of Kulturhuset, on Sergels torg and other places, there will big visualizations of the number 350, involving climate activists, other interested and just people strolling by.

Seminars in Ekoteket:

11.00, Studio 3 – 350.org – Why 350 ppm? How will we achieve it?
Introduction of the day and a presentation of 350.org and the Global Day of Action by Arne Forstenberg, GlobalFOCUS.

11.30, Studio 3 – TckTckTck – Den greatest campaign that the world has seen. Presentation by Linn Andersson, Fältbiologerna, one of the organisations behind tcktcktck.se

12.00, Studio 3 -44 days to go – How can we influence our politicians?
Including a presentation of the campaign NÖDSTOPP! Participants: Tomas Walch, Joel Malmqvist from Hela Världen/ Svenska kyrkan, Jorge Vivan, from Framtidsjorden, Mato Grosso, Brasilien, Arr: Klimataktion

13.00- 14.00 PAUS – People who want to create a human 350 formation gather outside Kulturhuset at Drottningatan.

13.30 Human formation of the number 350 at Sergels Torg!

14.00-15.30, Ekoteket – Genrep infor Kopenhamn, an interactive role-play about the climate negotiotions. Based on The Copenhagen Climate Exercise. Participants: Martin Hedberg and Teater Barbara. Arr: Effekt magasin, Tällberg Foundation, Fores, Klimataktion

15.30-16.30, Ekoteket – Climate change – culture as problem and solution.
Participants: Cecilia Holm, producer at Teater Barbara, Stina Oscarsson, Orionteatern, Dennis Pamlin WWF and Caroline Matsson, GlobalFOCUS
Arr: GlobalFOCUS

16.50 Speech by Kumi Naidoo, justice campaigner and president of GCCA (Global Campaign for Climate Action).

16.30-17.00, Ekoteket – Conclusions, info about further activities and music by the singer/songwriter Batu Beru

During the whole session at Ekoteket, there will be parallel activities: Info tables, workshops and an introduction of the Blue Flag Campaign among other activities.

On Sergels torg, outside Kulturhuset, there will be lots of activities during the day. Keep your eyes open for further information!

The Day will end with a 350 minutes long music marathon called “No More Lullabies” at Södra Teatern, with lots of famous Swedish artists taking a personal stand against climate change. See separate event at 350.org.

Don’t miss this!

Related posts:

1. October 24th: Kumi Naidoo will speak at Kulturhuset
2. 24 October: 5 200 events to save our planet
3. Bill McKibben: We will have more than 4 000 events on October 24th!

Dole earlier sued filmmaker Fredrik Gertten for showing his controversial film “Bananas! The documentary shows the alleged plight of Nicaraguan workers who say they were made sterile by a pesticide used at Dole banana plantations in the 1970s.

You can watch the film Bananas at IdeasForChange.tv

Related posts:

1. Google displays all requests from governments for shutdown
2. Can you feel the winds of change?

The 2009 Right Livelihood Awards go to four recipients:

The Honorary Award goes to DAVID SUZUKI (Canada) “for his lifetime
advocacy of the socially responsible use of science, and for his massive
contribution to raising awareness about the perils of climate change and
building public support for policies to address it”.
Three recipients receive cash awards of EUR 50,000 each:
RENÉ NGONGO (Democratic Republic of Congo) is honoured “for his
courage in confronting the forces that are destroying the Congo’s rainforests
and building political support for their conservation and sustainable use”.
ALYN WARE (New Zealand) is recognised “for his effective and creative
advocacy and initiatives over two decades to further peace education and to
rid the world of nuclear weapons”.
CATHERINE HAMLIN (Ethiopia) is awarded “for her fifty years dedicated
to treating obstetric fistula patients, thereby restoring the health, hope and
dignity of thousands of Africa’s poorest women”.

Quote
The Right Livelihood Award Jury gave the following motivation for its choice
of Laureates:
“Despite the scientific warnings about the imminent threat and disastrous
impacts of climate change and despite our knowledge about solutions, the
global response to this crisis is still painfully slow and largely inadequate. At
the same time, the threat from nuclear weapons has by no means diminished,
and the treatable diseases of poverty shame our common humanity. The 2009
Right Livelihood Award Recipients demonstrate concretely what has to be
done in order to tackle climate change, rid the world of nuclear weapons, and
provide crucial medical treatment to the poor and marginalised.”

Background
Founded in 1980 the Right Livelihood Awards are presented annually in the
Swedish Parliament and are often referred to as ‘Alternative Nobel Prizes’.
They were introduced “to honour and support those offering practical and
exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today”.
Jakob von Uexkull, a Swedish-German professional philatelist, sold his business to provide the
original funding. Since then, the Award has been supported by individual donors.
82 candidates from 46 countries were proposed for the Right Livelihood Awards this year,
whereof 36 come from industrialized and 46 from “developing” countries.

At the press conference:
* Marianne Andersson, Member of the Board and Jury of the Right Livelihood Award
Foundation
* Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation
* Ewa Thalén Finné, Member of Parliament and of the Board of the Swedish Foundation for
the Fistula Hospital (Stiftelsen Fistulasjukhuset)
* Eva Selin Lindgren, Professor of Environmental Physics at Chalmers University of
Technology, Member of Parliament and SÄRLA, and expert on nuclear weapons and energy.
Telephone interviews on October 13:
* David Suzuki (Vancouver): +1 604 730-9670 or +1 778 991-6380 (mobile)
* René Ngongo (DRC): +243 9983 34500
* Alyn Ware (New York City, attending PNND Assembly): +1 646 752-8702 (mobile)
* On Oct 13th, Catherine Hamlin will be on a flight to Australia. You can either contact Marc
Bennett, CEO of Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, Ethiopia, on +251 91 888 923 for further
information on the Fistula Hospital; or you can contact Dr. Hamlin in Australia via James
Grainger, Hamlin Fistula, Sydney, Australia on +61 411 253 985
* Jakob von Uexkull (London): +44 20 7321 3810
* Ole von Uexkull (Sweden, afternoon): +46 8 70 20 337

TV Footage
Footage clips (high resolution) on David Suzuki and René Ngongo are available for free:
Download via (provided by www.ideasforchange.tv):
* René Ngongo:
www.dabber.tv/RLA1.mov
* David Suzuki:
www.dabber.tv/RLA2.mov
www.dabber.tv/RLA3.mov
or contact the Right Livelihood Award Foundation.

Important Dates
Award Ceremony and press conference with the 2009 laureates – ATTENTION: Dates changed!
A press conference with the 2009 recipients will be held at the International Press Centre at the
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm on Thursday, December 3th at 9:30 am.
The Award Ceremony in the Swedish Parliament will be held on Friday, December 4th at 6 pm.
30th Anniversary Conference next year
On the invitation of the City of Bonn and thanks to the support by Bonn-based foundations, The
Right Livelihood Award Foundation will hold its 30th Anniversary Conference in Bonn,
Germany, from September 14-19th, 2010.
Further information, the Foundation’s logo and photos of the recipients (incl. high resolution) can
be downloaded from www.rightlivelihood.org.

Contact
Birgit Jaeckel, press consultant
Right Livelihood Award Foundation
Office: +46-8-702 03 39
Mobile: +49-170-24 49 348
Fax: +46-8-702 03 38
E-mail: press @ rightlivelihood.org

Related posts:

1. Award Winner CATHERINE HAMLIN (Ethiopia)
2. Award Winner ALYN WARE (New Zealand-Aotearoa)
3. Award Winner RENÉ NGONGO (Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC)

David Suzuki is one of the most brilliant scientists, and communicators about
science, of his generation. Through his books and broadcasts, which have touched
millions of people around the world, he has stressed the dangers, as well as the
benefits, of scientific research and technological development. He has campaigned
tirelessly for social responsibility in science. For the past 20 years, he has been
informing the world about the grave threat to humanity of climate change and
about how it can be reduced.

Life and career choices
David Suzuki was born in Canada in 1936 to parents of Japanese descent. Following the
Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour, the family was interned, and later, after the war,
settled in Ontario. With a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago, Suzuki went to
the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1963, where he became Professor of
Zoology six years later, specialising in genetics.
During his scientific work, Suzuki became more and more concerned about both the
relationship between science and society, and the impacts of human activities on the
natural world. He says: “After a great deal of soul-searching I concluded that all scientific
insight has the potential to be applied for good or bad and the only way to minimise the
misapplication of science is an informed public.” While continuing his university
professorships until 2001, Suzuki gave up his laboratory research in the late 70s to
become one of the most important communicators on natural science in the world and “an
environmental icon” as the 2005 Right Livelihood Award Recipient Tony Clarke has
described him.
From 1979 until today, Suzuki has been the anchorman of “The Nature of Things with
David Suzuki”, a prime time science programme on Canadian television, which has been
sold to more than 80 countries. He has produced numerous other TV shows and series,
and has written 43 books, whereof 17 for children.

The David Suzuki Foundation
In 1988, Suzuki’s 5-part radio series about the global ecosystem crisis, It’s a Matter of
Survival, produced letters from 16,000 listeners asking what could be done. Suzuki’s
response was to set up, in 1990, with his wife, Dr. Tara Cullis, the David Suzuki
Foundation (DSF). Since its inception, DSF has become a nationally recognized and
trusted voice on issues of the environment, one that is increasingly asked to speak on
matters of critical importance.

In 2008, the David Suzuki Foundation reviewed its progress over the first two decades of
its existence, and decided to focus its future efforts on five key areas.
1. Reconnecting with nature – Helping Canadians to become aware of their profound
interdependence with nature.
2. Protecting natural systems – Working to ensure that systems are in place to protect
the diversity and resilience of Canada’s marine, freshwater, terrestrial and atmospheric
ecosystems.
3. Transforming the economy – Encouraging a transition of Canada’s economy towards
increased well-being, fairness and quality of life, while recognizing the finite limits of
nature.
4. Living neighbourhoods – Empowering citizens to live healthier, more fulfilled and
just lives.
5. Protecting our climate – Holding Canada to account for doing its fair share to avoid
dangerous climate change.
In 2009, the David Suzuki Foundation had 58 staff members and an annual budget of
nearly CND 7 million, which comes from numerous foundations, and tens of thousands
of individual supporters.

Climate change
For many years, Suzuki has been at the forefront of the climate debate, informing the
public about the extreme urgency to act, which follows from the best scientific evidence
in the field. Suzuki has called Canadian Prime Minister Harper an “outlaw”, because he is
not following the Kyoto protocol although Canada has ratified it. At a speech in 2009 at
McGill University, he said: “When you have politicians who are advised by scientists
how bad climate change is going to hit, and by economists how bad it is for the economy,
and they still do not take action, that is an intergenerational crime, which should be
prosecuted”. Together with a group of engineers, Suzuki is now working on a study to
see if and how Canada can get its energy entirely from renewable sources.

Suzuki on biotech
In his own discipline of genetics, Suzuki has played a crucial role in informing and
warning the public about the weak and risky scientific basis of many of today’s
commercial applications of genetic engineering. With science writer, Peter Knudtson, he
wrote of his concerns in Genethics: The Ethics of Engineering Life. In an article
Biotechnology: Panacea or Hype?, he writes: “Every scientist should understand that in
any young, revolutionary discipline, most of the current ideas in the area are tentative and
will fail to stand up to scrutiny over time. In other words, the bulk of the latest notions are
wrong. The rush to exploit new products will be based on inaccurate hypotheses and
questionable benefits and could be downright dangerous. The discipline is far from
mature enough to leave the lab or find a niche in the market. The problem is that those
pushing its benefits stand to gain enormously from it.”
Suzuki’s role in Canadian society
An important aspect of Suzuki’s and DSF’s work is his relationship with Canada’s First
Nations. He used many of his broadcasts to campaign for their rights of decision over
their ancestral resources, and has been formally adopted by three tribes, and made an
honorary chieftain of one.
In a 2009 poll on ‘Who does Canada Trust Most?’ in the Canadian Readers’ Digest,
Suzuki was ranked no. 1. Suzuki holds a large number of honorary doctorates and has
received Canada’s highest honour, Companion to the Order of Canada.

Quote
“Conventional economics is inevitably destructive and unsustainable because it ignores
nature’s services as ‘externalities’. But nature maintains the biosphere as a healthy place
for animals like us. Growth is just a description of the state of a system, yet economists
equate growth with progress as if growth is the very purpose of economics. So we fail to
ask ‘how much is enough?’, ‘what is an economy for?’, ‘am I happier with all this stuff?’.
Steady growth forever is impossible in a finite world and our world is defined by the
biosphere, the zone of air, water and land where all life exists. Endless growth within the
biosphere is like the goal of cancer within our body. We need to internalize the services
of nature in an ecological economics system and work towards ‘steady state economics’.”

Related posts:

1. 30th Right Livelihood Awards: Wake-up calls to secure our common future
2. Award Winner RENÉ NGONGO (Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC)
3. Award Winner ALYN WARE (New Zealand-Aotearoa)

The Congo rainforest, in global importance second only to that of the Amazon, is
under grave threat from the aftermath of war, population pressure and corporate
exploitation. Since 1994, including through the civil war from 1996-2002, René
Ngongo has engaged, at great personal risk, in popular campaigning, political
advocacy and practical initiatives to confront the destroyers of the rainforest and
help create the political conditions that could halt its destruction and bring about its
conservation and sustainable use.

Life and career
René Ngongo was born in Goma in 1961, and took a Bachelor in biology from the
University of Kisangani in 1987. It soon became clear to him that the Congo rainforest,
the second largest tropical forest in the world, is under very grave threat – both because
of the poverty of local people who cut the forest to satisfy their need for food and
fuelwood and because of commercial logging and mining.

In 1994 Ngongo founded, and became the national coordinator of, OCEAN (Organisation
Concertée des Ecologistes et Amis de la Nature). OCEAN started as an environmental
NGO in Kisangani, but has managed to reach out to the entire country through the work
of volunteers. OCEAN’s main activities are agroforestry, urban tree-planting,
reforestation nurseries for the most threatened species, distribution of improved cooking
stoves, monitoring of the exploitation of natural resources, education, especially through
radio and TV broadcasts, and the advocacy and lobbying on local, national and
international level.

Ngongo has also worked both for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Since 2008, Ngongo has been
working for Greenpeace to build up the new Greenpeace DRC office. He handed over the
leadership of OCEAN to a younger colleague and became a member of its Administrative
Council instead.

Promoting sustainable land use
The first focus of Ngongo’s work was to promote sustainable land use models that would
allow the local population to satisfy their need for food and fuelwood, and to receive a
better income, without destroying the forest. From 1992 to 2000, Ngongo had a weekly
radio programme on nature protection and the impact of deforestation called “L’Homme
et son Environnement – MAZINGIRA”. At the same time, Ngongo developed
pedagogical tools and provided trainings for farmers to learn about alternatives to the
destructive “slash and burn” agriculture. He created in Kisangani demonstration fields for
sustainable agricultural techniques like agroforestry (growing food in the forest without
destroying it) and taught locals how to save on fuelwood through improved cooking
stoves.

Ngongo also coordinated the creation of a seedling plantation with 20,000 seedlings of
the most exploited tree species in the Eastern province. This plantation provided trees for
several events such as ‘green city’ (Ville Verte) during which tree planting took place in
abandoned parks, along avenues and in schools. Children were actively involved in these
events to ensure widespread dissemination of the environmental messages.
Exposing destructive mining and logging
Throughout the wartime years of 1996-2002 Ngongo was actively monitoring the
exploitation of natural resources by the different warring parties. Many international
organisations and research institutes recognised OCEAN as a key source of information.
For instance, Ngongo’s research on illegal mining operations (diamonds and other
minerals) contributed to the UN Security Council expert panel report on the illegal
exploitation of natural resources in the DRC. Ngongo is convinced that the struggle for
the control over natural resources was the main driving force of the conflicts in the DRC
that left millions of people dead.

Since the civil war ended, the destruction of the Congo rainforest has accelerated even
more, because the DRC is now safe terrain for the big forestry multinationals to operate.
OCEAN became the key organisation exposing irresponsible logging practices as well as
weak governance and a lack of transparency in the forest and mining sectors. Not
surprisingly, Ngongo has experienced a considerable amount of threats, manipulation and
intimidation.

Today, the rainforests of the DRC are at a crossroads. In January 2009, the government
finished a legal review of 156 forest concessions (on 20 million hectares) and concluded
that 91 of them had been illegal. However, in September 2009, several companies whose
contracts had been declared illegal by the joint ministerial commission in January
continued their activities in total impunity. Thus, it is one of Ngongo’s priorities to
campaign for the implementation of the government’s decision and for respecting the
moratorium on new logging activities in the forests of the DRC. He is arguing that the
further destruction of the Congo rainforest would put local communities, who depend on
the forest for their livelihoods, at great risk. It would also further accelerate global
warming and make the DRC more vulnerable to its effects.

Capacity building
Much of Ngongo’s work is dedicated to strengthening the knowledge and capabilities of
NGOs, politicians and local authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to
effectively protect the forest. He has coordinated training sessions for national and
provincial politicians on the forest code. OCEAN is working with local communities
affected by road construction projects to make sure that their voices are heard. In
addition, Ngongo’s ongoing support of grassroots initiatives provided a strong basis for
the development of the ‘Réseau des Ressources Naturelles’, a Congolese umbrella
organisation for civil society groups working on mining and forestry issues. Ngongo has
also organised many consultations with politicians, donors and industry representatives to
promote sustainable forestry practices.

Quote
“The forests of the DR Congo and the Congo Basin, the planet’s second ‘lung’, are a
precious heritage that should be preserved. Those forests should not be considered merely
as raw material to be exported and should neither only be seen as a carbon reservoir.
Before anything else, it is a living environment, a grocery store, a pharmacy, a spiritual
landmark for millions of forest communities and aboriginal peoples, those who are our
forest’s main guardians. Destroying the forest means destroying lifestyles that are worth
as much as others…”
“Those extraordinary forests, with a unique biodiversity, also represent a major asset for
the DRC and the entire planet when it comes to the fight against climate change.
Valorising them as standing forests brings about a quarter of the answer on how to defuse
the threat of climate change. But unfortunately, with 13 million hectares disappearing
each year, what future are we handing over to future generations? And in the meantime,
so many meetings, speeches, good intentions… It is time to act and mobilise the
necessary resources in order to guarantee an ecologically responsible and socially
balanced future for our forests…”

Related posts:

1. Award winner DAVID SUZUKI, Canada (Honorary Award)
2. Award Winner ALYN WARE (New Zealand-Aotearoa)
3. Award Winner CATHERINE HAMLIN (Ethiopia)

Catherine Hamlin came to Ethiopia from Australia in 1959 to work as an
obstetrician and gynaecologist at a hospital in Addis Ababa. With her husband
Reginald she pioneered the surgical treatment of obstetric fistula. The Hamlins built
their own hospital in Addis, where women are treated free of charge. The facilities
include reception hostels for the women, who come from all over the country, and a
rehabilitation centre for the badly injured. They have also established regional
centres to make the treatment more widely accessible and a midwifery school to
help prevent obstetric fistula occurring in the first place.
Catherine Hamlin was born in Sydney in 1924. In 1959, she left Australia together with
her husband Reginald in response to an advertisement to work as
obstetrician/gynaecologist at a hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The couple was
horrified by the prevalence of obstetric fistula, a condition arising from prolonged
obstructed labour that leaves the affected woman incontinent of urine, with 20% suffering
bowel incontinence as well. Permanently leaking bodily fluids, they often become social
outcasts, without hope, and live in the most miserable conditions. Obstetric fistula,
formerly common throughout the world, is now almost non-existent in industrialized
countries, thanks to better obstetric care, but is still prevalent in developing countries.

Pioneering fistula treatment
At the time the Hamlins started their work, there was little treatment available for the
condition anywhere in the world, but the Hamlins developed surgical techniques, began
to operate on their patients and eventually achieved a 93% success rate. Soon, women
started arriving at the hospital from all over the country hoping for the operation. Small
hostels were built on the hospital’s grounds to accommodate them as they awaited their
turn. All treatment was – and still is – free of charge.

Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital
Recognising that they needed their own hospital, the Hamlins went fundraising abroad.
Eventually, in 1974, Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital was opened. Since then, it has become
a global centre of expertise in fistula repair and also trains surgeons. In addition to the
main hospital in the capital, there are now, in 2009, five regional hospital centres in other
Ethiopian cities to make the treatment more widely accessible. Their doctors treat 2,750
women per year – about 29% of new fistulas in Ethiopia – and have treated over 32,000
women in total. They have also built Desta Mender – ‘Village of Joy’ – a rehabilitation
centre for women so badly injured that they need long-term care.

Hamlin also focuses on the important area of fistula prevention with the establishment of
the Hamlin Midwifery College in Addis Ababa. The midwives will be placed in rural
health clinics around the country in order to prevent obstetric fistula in the first place, to
raise the quality of care in childbirth generally and to lower the high maternal death rate.
The hospital and associated activities have about 400 staff and cost more than EUR 1
million per year to run. Catherine Hamlin, while still also operating on patients, spends a
lot of time travelling the world to raise awareness about the condition and its disastrous
effects on the lives of its victims, and to fundraise for her clinics and midwifery school.
Funds come from eight international partner organisations (that in Sweden has 70,000
members) and major charities. The Australian Government is also a key supporter.

Honours and books
Hamlin has been awarded many medical honorary fellowships, and a number of civil
honours, including Companion of the Order of Australia (1995) and the Rotary Award for
Understanding and Peace (1998). In Australia, her book The Hospital by the River
became a best-seller.

Quote
Catherine Hamlin chose to quote the British fistula surgeon, Professor Chassar Moir of
Oxford, who summed up the ethos of fistula treatment:
“Nothing can equal the gratitude of the woman, who wearied by constant pain and
desperate with the realization that her very presence is an offence to others, finds
suddenly that life has been given anew and that she has once again become a citizen of
the world.”

Related posts:

1. 30th Right Livelihood Awards: Wake-up calls to secure our common future
2. Award winner DAVID SUZUKI, Canada (Honorary Award)
3. Award Winner ALYN WARE (New Zealand-Aotearoa)