Niwano awards peace prize to Indian promoter of women workers' rights

(February 25, 2010) The Niwano Peace Foundation has chosen Ela Ramesh Bhatt of India, a pioneer in organizing poor women workers and in micro financing projects, as the recipient of the 2010 Niwano Peace Prize. Bhatt, a Hindu, founded the Self-Employed Women's Association in 1972 to organize and protect the rights of poor women, mainly textile workers, who were not covered by labour laws that protect factory workers. The trade union now has more than 1.2 million members. Two years later, she founded the SEWA Cooperative Bank, which provides small, low-interest loans to poor women to help them start their own businesses. Some 3 million women have been involved in and assisted by the bank's lending program. Bhatt served as a member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, from 1986 to 1989. She founded and served as chair of Women's World Banking, a microfinance nongovernmental organization, and also has been instrumental in the International Alliance of Home-based Workers and in the research network Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing, Organizing. The Niwano Peace Foundation established the Niwano Peace Prize to honour and encourage individuals and organizations that have contributed significantly to interreligious cooperation and peace. This year’s award ceremony is scheduled for 13 May in Tokyo. The winner will receive an award certificate, a medal and 20 million yen (US$ 225,000).