Ms. Jeunesse Park of South Africa and Bangladeshi NGO Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha are the co-winners of the UNEP Sasakawa Prize 2007, a $200,000 prize awarded yearly to individuals or institutions who have made a substantial contribution to the protection and management of the environment.

Commenting on this announcement, Ms. Park, who has been working on climate change since 1990, said that "it has been rewarding to recently see the growing interest in this crucial global crisis and to know that we have played a small part in facilitating action in South Africa".

For his part, Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan, Shidhulai Executive Director, noted that the prize will help his organization "provide clean solar-powered lighting and educate thousands of people on literacy, sustainable farming and climate change", as well as promote "self-reliance for hundreds of villages in Bangladesh".

The four-member jury chose the co-winners, at a meeting at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, and the award ceremony will be held on 27 October 2007 at the Museum of Natural History, Rose Center for Earth and Space, in New York, USA.

The UNEP Sasakawa Prize acts as an incentive for environmental efforts that are sustainable and replicable in the long-term. It recognizes innovation, groundbreaking research and ideas, and extraordinary grassroots initiatives from around the world. The candidates' scope of activities is associated with the environmental theme of the year, which in 2007 is climate change.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "Leadership is urgently needed if the international community is to rise to the challenge of climate change-leadership from the United Nations; governments, scientists; business and cities, but also leadership from individuals and civil society organizations working on the ground".

"These two outstanding winners of the Sasakawa Prize 2007 embody leadership in its finest form - namely creative and determined action that demonstrates real and tangible difference to the people and communities they serve. In doing so our award winners are proving that combating climate change is not only do-able but links to the wider environmental, social and economic aims enshrined in targets such as the Millennium Development Goals," he added.

For more information on the winners and the prize, visit: The UNEP Sasakawa Prize

Source: United Nations News Service