Pakistani Human Rights Lawyer Wins Prestigious ‘Alternative Nobel’ Award

Pakistani human rights attorney Jalila Haider has been acknowledged with a prestigious "Right Livelihood Award," colloquially referred to as the "alternative Nobel." This award, presented by the Sweden-based Right Livelihood Foundation, celebrates Haider for her dedication to human rights and her challenge against ethnic, state, and patriarchal oppression.

The foundation recognized Haider as the first female lawyer from Pakistan's Hazara community and commended her for breaking barriers while advocating for marginalized groups. Timnit Gebru, a US-based artificial intelligence researcher, was also honored with the award. The jury lauded her efforts to address the concentration of power in artificial intelligence and the promotion of justice-oriented digital technology, driven by lived experience and human agency.

The Right Livelihood Foundation also honored the Rural Women’s Assembly, a grassroots movement representing over 178,000 small-scale farmers in 11 Southern African countries. The organization was awarded for mobilizing rural women to protect their land, seed, and bodily autonomy from corporate and patriarchal pressures. Additionally, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, or GYLA, was among the award recipients.

Founded in 1994 by volunteer lawyers, GYLA is Georgia's oldest and most prominent human rights organization. The foundation acknowledged GYLA for its role in preserving Georgian democracy and maintaining civic power in the face of an autocratic crackdown. Established in 1980 by Swedish-German philanthropist Jakob von Uexkull, the Right Livelihood Award was initially created to fill the void left by the Nobel Prizes' refusal to establish new awards in the fields of environment and international development.