Canton, Mass – The Reebok Human Rights Award Program announced today that for the first time in its 13-year history, the annual Reebok Human Rights Award will be presented to four women.
The 2002 winners include the founder of the first independent labor union in Indonesia; an advocate for abused children in Zambia; a rescuer of young girls enslaved as prostitutes in India; and an activist at the forefront of a new generation of civil rights leadership in the United States.
The winners, Dita Sari of Indonesia, Kavwumbu Hakachima of Zambia, Babita Maili Lama of Nepal and Malika Asha Sanders of Selma, Alabama will be honored as champions of human rights as part of the 2002 Cultural Olympiad of the Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games. The awards will be presented at a ceremony during the Olympic Arts Festival on February 7, 2002 at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City.
Over the past eight years, Dita Sari (age 29) has been harassed, arrested, imprisoned, and tortured for her efforts to improve the deplorable labor conditions for thousands of factory workers, primarily women, in Indonesia.
Today, Ms. Sari leads a union that is 22,000 strong and growing.
Kavwumbu Hakachima (age 27) is an ardent spokesperson and advocate for victims of child abuse in Zambia, a country ravaged by poverty and AIDS. Ms. Hakachima now heads Children in Crisis, an organization dedicated to helping abused children. Babita Maili Lama (age 25) was a young mother who was abducted from her village in Nepal and sold into forced prostitution in Bombay. After surviving two years of unspeakable horrors, she escaped and now risks her own life to rescue other young girls who suffer a similar fate. A second-generation civil rights activist, Malika Asha Sanders (age 27) is executive director of the 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement, an innovative organization dedicated to developing leadership and community building skills for young African-Americans.
"The four remarkable women we are privileged to honor this year at the Olympic Arts Festival are extraordinary examples of the true nature of courage and humanity," said Paul Fireman, Chairman and CEO of Reebok International Ltd. "We are especially pleased to share their stories with the international community, many of whom will be in Salt Lake City for the Olympic Winter Games. Consistent with the noble aspirations of the Olympics, their human rights work brings hope, inspiration and strength to the lives of others. They are truly champions and torchbearers in the fight for a better world."
Established in 1988, the Reebok Human Rights Award honors activists thirty years old or younger who, against great odds and often at great personal risk, have made significant contributions to the field of human rights, strictly through non-violent means.
Since 1988, 68 recipients from 35 countries have been selected. The Award aims to strengthen the work of these young heroes by attracting international attention to both the recipients and their issues. Award recipients receive a $50,000 grant from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation to help further their work.
They also become members of Forefront, a network of former recipients that helps each other gain skills and resources, share strategies and opportunities, communicate with the international community, and respond to crises.
Mitt Romney, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games (SLOC), noted "The Olympic Arts Festival is a most appropriate setting to celebrate these four champions of humanity. The recipients of the Reebok Human Rights Award represent the ideal human qualities that bring forth the best in mankind and are synonymous with the ideals of the Olympic Games since ancient times."