Work
The work of the Rafto Foundation is done by a small team of professionals and volunteers. The major emphasis is made on the support of previous laureates as well as educational projects, informative events and lobby initiatives.
In 2004, Rebiya Kadeer was awarded the Rafto Prize for her efforts to bring to the end social and economic marginalisation of the Uyghur people of Xinjiang. In a promotion of the human rights of the Uyghur people, the Rafto Foundation published a book, “In Our World of Good and Evil”, (2006) and assisted in a production of a documentary, “On a tightrope” (2006).
In 2000, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Rafto Prize for his tireless fight for democracy and human rights in Korea. Since that time, the Rafto Foundation provides a significant contribution to the annual international conferences held in Bergen, Norway. The foundation supported also a production of a documentary film, “YODOK Stories” about Yodok concentration camp in North Korea.
In 1999, Gennady Grushevoy was awarded the Rafto Prize for his brave work for democracy and human rights under the Lukashenko dictatorship in Belarus. Together with the Norwegian film company Piraya Film, a documentary film, “Belarussian Waltz”, was released in 2007. The film tells the incredible story of a Belurussian painter and performance artist, Alexander Pushkin, and his brave challenges to President Lukashenko’s authoritarian regime.
In 1994, Leyla Zana, the Kurdish Parliamentarian, became the Rafto Prize laureate for her struggle for the human rights of the Kurdish people in Turkey and the neighbouring countries. In her struggle for freedom, Leyla Zana has become a symbol of a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. The Rafto Foundation took an active role in establishing the EU Turkey Civic Commission and series of conferences in Brussels, on the Kurdish minority rights.
In 1990, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Rafto Prize for her peaceful struggle under a military dictatorship. Since 1990 Burma has become one of the main follow up projects of the Rafto Foundation. A close work with the Burmese community in Norway made the Rafto Foundation to take an initiative in setting up of the Norwegian Burma Committee, which at the moment is based in Oslo and runs independently from the Rafto Foundation.
Read more about this topic: Rafto Foundation For Human Rights
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“What we often take to be family values—the work ethic, honesty, clean living, marital fidelity, and individual responsibility—are in fact social, religious, or cultural values. To be sure, these values are transmitted by parents to their children and are familial in that sense. They do not, however, originate within the family. It is the value of close relationships with other family members, and the importance of these bonds relative to other needs.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“The lady—bearer of this—says she has two sons who want to work. Set them at it, if possible. Wanting to work is so rare a merit, that it should be encouraged.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“A work of art is an abstract or epitome of the world. It is the result or expression of nature, in miniature. For, although the works of nature are innumerable and all different, the result or the expression of them all is similar and single.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)