The 2026 Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”, goes to:
Jalila Haider from Pakistan “for breaking barriers, as the first female lawyer from her Hazara community, to challenge ethnic, state and patriarchal persecution, guided by the conviction that no human being is illegal,”
Rural Women’s Assembly “for organising rural women across Southern Africa into a united force defending land, seed and bodily autonomy against corporate and patriarchal dispossession,”
Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) “for building and safeguarding Georgian democracy and sustaining civic power in the face of an autocratic crackdown,” and
Timnit Gebru from the United States of America “for challenging concentrated power in artificial intelligence and pioneering digital technology rooted in justice, lived experience and human agency.”
Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of Right Livelihood, says:
“A system built to serve the few was never going to hold. This year, we honour women who refused to wait for permission. They are rewriting the rules that autocrats, patriarchs, and Silicon Valley’s most powerful men assumed were theirs to write alone.”
GYLA is the first Laureate to receive the Right Livelihood Award from Georgia.
In addition to being available for one-on-one interviews, the Laureates are holding consecutive online press conferences today, September 30. Register for the press conferences.
- 10:00 CEST (08:00 GMT): Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA)
- 11:00 CEST (09:00 GMT): Rural Women’s Assembly
- 14:00 CEST (12:00 GMT): Jalila Haider
- 18:00 CEST (16:00 GMT): Timnit Gebru
For over 45 years, the Right Livelihood Award has honoured and supported courageous people leading the way to a just, peaceful and sustainable world for all. The Award comes with long-term support to highlight and expand Laureates’ work.
In 2026, we considered 200 nominees from 72 countries. Previous Laureates include Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, Congolese gynaecologist and women’s rights advocate Dr Denis Mukwege, American public interest lawyer Bryan Stevenson and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
The 2026 Laureates will be honoured during a televised Award Presentation in Stockholm on December 1.
Nominations are now also open for next year’s Award!