Shakti Samuha has bagged the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award 2013. Shakti Samuha is a non-governmental organisation formed and run by survivors of human trafficking.
The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation in its press release has said that the award was provided to the Shakti Samuha as a recognition for “transforming their lives in service to other human trafficking survivors, their passionate dedication towards rooting out a pernicious social evil in Nepal and the radiant example they have been in reclaiming human dignity that is the birthright of all women and children.”
Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia’s highest honour and is widely regarded as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. It celebrates the memory and leadership of the third Filipino president, and is given every year to individuals or organisations in Asia who manifest the same sense of selfless service.
The award will be conferred on August 31 to the Shakti Samuha, along with three other individuals and two organisations from Afghanistan, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, amid a function in Manila.
Four Nepalis - Mahesh Chandra Regmi (1977), Bharat Dutta Koirala (2002), Dr Sanduk Ruit (2006) and Mahabir Pun (2007) - have already been felicitated with this award.
