Ka Hsaw Wa

Ka Hsaw Wa, is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of EarthRights International, and "is a member of the Karen ethnic nationality of Burma. He was one of the student leaders in the 1988 nation-wide student uprising for democracy and freedom, and has been a human rights activist since he fled Burma in 1988. As well as managing and directing the overall operations of EarthRights International, Ka Hsaw Wa coordinates a grassroots field staff that has successfully documented human rights and environmental abuses within Burma. The evidence collected has served as a cornerstone in the ground-breaking lawsuit against Unocal and in the decision of the International Labor Organization to pressure Burma’s brutal regime. Ka Hsaw Wa has been awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize, Reebok Human Rights Award, Whitley Fund for Nature/Sting and Trudie Styler Award for Human Rights and the Environment, and the Conde Nast Environmental Award for his work in defense of human rights and the environment. Ka Hsaw Wa splits his time between the U.S. and Southeast Asia offices."


 * 1999 winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize (According to the website of the Goldman Environmental Prize, the prize "is given each year to six environmental heroes - one from each of six continental regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Island Nations, North America and South/Central America. Initially each recipient received a $60,000 award from the Goldman Environmental Foundation. The award stipend has been raised three times since and currently stands at $125,000.")