Award of the “Special Mention” of the Human Rights Prize on CHEA

On the occasion of World Environment Day, His Excellency Mr François Richier, Ambassador of France to India, acting on behalf of the French Government, bestowed the Special Mention of the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic on the Central Himalayan Environment Association, in recognition of its innovative and worthy action to preserve our environment and to promote human rights, and particularly women’s rights.

The CHEA was established in Uttarakhand in 1982. In the spirit of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, it is dedicated to the preservation and the development of the Himalayan ecosystem through the creation of the Indian Mountain Initiative. It also aims to strengthen and improve the social and economic rights of village forest communities (Van Panchayats).

Equally committed to preserving our environment and the ecosystem of our mountains, France thus desires to award this prize for those innovative initiatives in India that are an example of actions for the sustainable and social development of impoverished people. France supports programmes integrating actions for poverty alleviation and environmental conservation.

The Human Rights Prize of the French Republic, instituted in 1988 under the aegis of the Prime Minister, is organised by the National Human Rights Consultative Commission (CNCDH), the French national institution for the promotion and protection of human rights. It rewards individual or collective field actions – irrespective of nationality or borders – that correspond with one of the two themes chosen annually.