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Dekha Awarded "Alternative Nobel"

We're thrilled that Kenyan peacebuilder Dekha Ibrahim Abdi has just been named one of the winners of the 2007 Right Livelihood Award, known as the "alternative Nobel." Dekha is former project leader of one of our Champions programmes and now heads up our Kenya Rapid Response Fund.

Dekha Headshot Yellow

The award honours efforts to promote peace, biodiversity and renewable energy. The four winners (who also come from Sri Lanka, Canada and Bangladesh) share the 2 million Kronor (218,000 Euro) award. Prize founder Jakob von Uexkull said Dekha, "demonstrates how war and terror can be overcome by peace-building and the rule of international law."

We’ve just spoken to Dekha who told us, “I’m still taking the news in. I feel good though because at this moment I am with 100 other peacebuilders in Mombasa. There is no better place to receive this information.”

You can watch a short film about Dekha’s peacebuilding work here and find out more information on the Kenya Rapid Response Fund here. The awards will be presented in a ceremony at the Swedish Parliament on Dec. 7. More information on the award