The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and partners announce the winners of the 14th Equator Prize, acknowledging Indigenous peoples and local communities from ten countries. Selected from a pool of over 500 nominations received from 108 countries, the winners are from Brazil, Burundi, Bolivia, Ecuador, Greenland, Guatemala, Liberia, Philippines, Nepal and Zambia. The winners will be awarded at a ceremony in November, during UNDP’s Nature for Life Hub event.
This year’s winners shine a spotlight on the theme of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: Indigenous Youth as Agents of Change for Self-determination. Among this year’s awardees, four are initiatives led by youth, each demonstrating a strong dedication to fostering intergenerational equity within their communities.
The 2023 awardees now become a part of a distinguished network comprising 275 communities that have been acknowledged for their exceptional contributions to adapt to and mitigate climate change and reduce poverty since 2002.
Equator Prize winners will receive US$15,000, and the opportunity to take part in a series of special virtual events associated with the UN General Assembly, SDG Summit, UN Climate Ambition Summit and COP 28 in Dubai.
Among this year’s winners are a non-governmental organization integrating ancestral knowledge to protect the Arctic ecosystem and to defend land and ocean rights; and a community-led organization that successfully rejuvenated and conserved more than 10,000 hectares of mangrove forest, revived fish population and protected coastal ecosystem.
In the Philippines, Kapunungan sa Gagmay’ng Mangingisda sa Concepcion, established in 1986 by a fishing community, combats the depletion of mangrove forests and threats to the coastal ecosystem through community organizing, environmental education, policy support, and law enforcement. Their efforts have successfully rejuvenated the ecosystem, with 10,000 to 12,000 hectares of mangrove forests thriving again, bringing back vanished species and creating a sustainable environment for future generations in their communities and across the province of Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines.