Crusader Earth for the

Wins

BY JYOTI SHANKAR

Peace with justice. That is what the Sydney Peace Foundation’s “Peace Prize” aims to promote. And this year’s winner of the Sydney Peace Prize could not have been better picked.

Indian environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for the year 2010 in Sydney this month.

The 57-year-old activist was picked for the prestigious prize in recognition of her efforts towards women’s emancipation as well as her scientific contribution to ecological conservation.

Shiva was chosen from among 23 personalities shortlisted for Australia’s only international prize for peace.

Introducing her during the Peace Prize Lecture at the Sydney Opera House on 3 November, Prof. Stuart Rees, Director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, said that during the deliberations of the jury this year, global warming emerged as the main issue, especially that of courage and vision to respond to this issue. Based on three criteria – commitment to global peace with justice, evidence of commitment to universal human rights, and the use of philosophy, language and practice of non-violence, Vandana Shiva was unanimously voted the winner.

Her citation reads, “For courageous leadership of movements for social justice – the empowerment of women in developing countries, advocacy of the human rights of small farming communities and for her scientific analysis of environmental sustainability.”

Accepting the award, Vandana expressed joy at joining an amazing group of past recipients, people like Prof Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank; John Pilger, Australian journalist; Irene Khan of Amnesty International; Arundhati Roy, author and human rights campaigner and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among others.

Vandana’s interest in the rights of the earth and farmers began as a volunteer in the Chipko movement in the 1970s, when women activists adopted the approach of forming human circles around trees to prevent their felling. The movement combined