Indian, Bangladeshi among 6 winners of Magsaysay Awards
(July 27, 2012) A Bangladeshi lawyer who fought to keep old, rusty ships from being
dumped in her homeland and an Indian who has organized rural women to break the shackles
of poverty in their villages are among the six winners of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay
Awards announced on Thursday. The winners battled great odds to improve the plight
of the poor in forest communities, farmlands and exploitative industries, the Manila-based
foundation in charge of the awards said. Six outstanding individuals from Bangladesh,
India, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines and Taiwan will receive the 2012 Ramon Magsaysay
Award, regarded as the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The awards honouring
people in Asia who have changed their societies for the better are named after a Philippine
president who died in a plane crash in 1957. Each recipient will receive a certificate,
a medal and a $50,000 prize at the awards ceremony in Manila on 31 August. Kulandei
Francis, the winner from India, a former Holy Cross Catholic priest, organized poor
women to create the Integrated Village Development Project in remote Krishnagiri district
of Tamil Nadu state. The group organized savings and credit groups that received
preferential treatment from banks. More than 150,000 poor members benefited from
multimillion-dollar savings and loans that helped fund health, housing and sanitation
projects, including a school for tribal children. Bangladeshi lawyer Syeda Rizwana
Hasan waged court battles with her legal group to stop old ships decommissioned by
wealthy nations from entering Bangladesh to be dismantled as scrap, unless they have
been decontaminated at their origin. Thousands of poor workers, many of them children,
work in dangerous conditions in the junk yards. ``Few cases of social inequity are
as stark and dramatic'' as those handled by Hasan, the foundation said. Other winners
of this year’s Magsaysay Awards are: Chen Shu-Chu, from Taiwan. She is being recognized
for "the pure altruism of her personal giving, which reflects a deep, consistent,
quiet compassion, and has transformed the lives of the numerous Taiwanese she has
helped." Romulo Davide, from the Philippines. He is being recognized for "his
steadfast passion in placing the power and discipline of science in the hands of farmers
in the Philippines, who have consequently multiplied their yields, created productive
farming communities, and rediscovered the dignity of their labor." Yang Saing Koma,
from Cambodia. He is being recognized for "his creative fusion of practical science
and collective will that has inspired and enabled vast numbers of farmers in Cambodia
to become more empowered and productive contributors to their country's economic growth." Ambrosius
Ruwindrijarto, from Indonesia. He is being recognized for "his sustained advocacy
for community-based natural resource management in Indonesia, leading bold campaigns
to stop illegal forest exploitation, as well as fresh social enterprise initiatives
that engage the forest communities as their full partners."