Kulandei Francis, from India has been selected for this year's Ramon Magsaysay Award along with five others from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. According to the announcement on the website of the Ramon Magsaysay foundation, Kulandei Francis is being recognised for “his visionary zeal, his profound faith in community energies, and his sustained programs in pursuing the holistic economic empowerment of thousands of women and their families in rural India.
Mr. Francis Kulandei has been honoured for his work in transforming the lives of people through his Integrated Village Development Project in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu which was started in 1979. According to the foundation, over the years the programme has become a financially disciplined, self-reliant, member-owned, and member-managed organization with the group’s
solidarity and access to credit which has led to implementation of successful village programs in health and sanitation, housing, livelihood, and children’s education, including scholarships, performance-based incentives for students and schools, a primary school for tribal children, and a computer training academy that has, to date, trained some 5,000 children. The other awardees include Syeda Rizwana Hasan, from Bangladesh Chen Shu-Chu, from Taiwan.
Romulo Davide, from the Philippines, Yang Saing Koma,from Cambodia and Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, from Indonesia. Established in 1957, the Ramon Magsaysay Award is Asia's highest honor and is widely regarded as the region's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. The award which has been instituted in memory the third Philippine President, is given
every year to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest the sense of selfless service like that of the late Filipino leader. Foundation President Carmencita Abella said that this year's awardees are six remarkable individuals who are all deeply involved in creating sustainable solutions to poverty and its accompanying disempowerment – whether in the forests or on farmlands, in exploitative industries or in inadequate education. He also added that by working selflessly in unpretentious yet powerful ways, they are showing how commitment, competence, and collaborative leadership can truly transform millions of individual lives and galvanize progressive community action. This year's Magsaysay Award winners will each receive a certificate, a medallion bearing the likeness of the late President, and a cash prize.
They will be formally conferred the Magsaysay Award during the presentation Ceremony to be held on 31 August 2012 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
