Human rights, environment and social justice

Right Livelihood Award: winners and how it is awarded

The Right Livelihood Award was founded by Jakob von Uexkull and, according to the foundation, has honoured people standing up for human courage since 1980. It is usually given to several individuals and organisations each year.^2,1

How the winner is chosen

Nominations are submitted to the foundation and a jury selects the laureates, usually several each year. The fetched pages link to the foundation's nomination and jury pages but do not describe the process in detail.

Winners

1. 2026Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (Georgia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
2. 2026Rural Women's Assembly (Southern Africa)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
3. 2026Timnit Gebru (USA)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
4. 2026Jalila Haider (Pakistan)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
5. 2025Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (Pacific Islands)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
6. 2025Julian Aguon (Guam)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
7. 2025Justice For Myanmar (Myanmar)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
8. 2025Audrey Tang (Taiwan)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
9. 2025Emergency Response Rooms (Sudan)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
10. 2024Forensic Architecture (UK)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
11. 2024Anabela Lemos / Justiça Ambiental! (Mozambique)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
12. 2024Issa Amro / Youth Against Settlements (Palestine)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
13. 2024Joan Carling (Philippines)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
14. 2023Mother Nature Cambodia (Cambodia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
15. 2023SOS MEDITERRANEE (International)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
16. 2023Phyllis Omido (Kenya)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
17. 2023Eunice Brookman-Amissah (Ghana)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
18. 2022Cecosesola (Venezuela)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
19. 2022Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) (Uganda)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
20. 2022Oleksandra Matviichuk / Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) (Ukraine)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
21. 2022Fartuun Adan and Ilwad Elman (Somalia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
22. 2021Marthe Wandou (Cameroon)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
23. 2021Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE) (India)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
24. 2021Vladimir Slivyak (Russia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
25. 2021Freda Huson (Wet'suwet'en People, Canada)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
26. 2020Nasrin Sotoudeh (Iran)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
27. 2020Ales Bialiatski / Viasna (Belarus)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
28. 2020Lottie Cunningham Wren (Nicaragua)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
29. 2020Bryan Stevenson (USA)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
30. 2019Aminatou Haidar (Western Sahara)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
31. 2019Guo Jianmei (China)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
32. 2019Greta Thunberg (Sweden)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
33. 2019Davi Kopenawa / Hutukara Yanomami Association (Brazil)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
34. 2018Thelma Aldana and Iván Velásquez (Guatemala / Colombia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
35. 2018Tony Rinaudo (Australia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
36. 2018Abdullah al-Hamid, Waleed Abu al-Khair and Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani (Saudi Arabia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
37. 2018Yacouba Sawadogo (Burkina Faso)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
38. 2017Robert Bilott (USA)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
39. 2017Colin Gonsalves (India)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
40. 2017Khadija Ismayilova (Azerbaijan)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
41. 2017Yetnebersh Nigussie (Ethiopia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
42. 2016Syria Civil Defence (Syria)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
43. 2016Mozn Hassan / NAZRA (Egypt)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
44. 2016Svetlana Gannushkina (Russia)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)
45. 2016Cumhuriyet (Turkey)¹Right Livelihood Award laureate (country or region as listed by the foundation)

Notable facts

Sources

1. Right Livelihood Foundation, Find a laureate (27 October 2026)
2. Right Livelihood Foundation, About us (27 October 2026)