Right Livelihood Award honors women taking on autocrats, discrimination and unchecked AI

The Right Livelihood Award was presented on Wednesday to four women making a difference in the face of authoritarian rule, violence against women, and discrimination. The Stockholm-based foundation behind the prestigious annual prize recognized a Pakistani lawyer, an Ethiopian-born AI researcher, a Georgian legal rights organization, and a network of women farmers across Southern Africa.

Jalila Haider, a human rights lawyer from Pakistan, was honored for her efforts to protect vulnerable communities from state repression, discrimination, and ethnic violence. The first female lawyer from her Hazara community, Haider has fought for justice for thousands of minorities and refugees. She has also helped political activists and human rights defenders regain their freedom to travel.

In Southern Africa, the Rural Women’s Assembly was awarded for organizing rural women into a united force defending their land, seed, and bodily autonomy against corporate and patriarchal dispossession. This self-organized movement of over 178,000 small-scale farmers across 11 nations has documented hundreds of local seed varieties, helping preserve traditional practices.

The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association was recognized for its role in building and safeguarding Georgian democracy amid an autocratic crackdown. Founded in 1994, the group has secured significant legal victories, including protections for people with disabilities, free education for all children, and compensation for Soviet-era repression victims.

Finally, AI researcher Timnit Gebru was awarded for her work challenging concentrated power in artificial intelligence. Gebru, born in Ethiopia to an Eritrean family, is the founder of the Distributed AI Research Institute. Her research exposes the harms caused by AI systems, particularly to marginalized communities, and advocates for a more just approach to digital technology.