Greta Thunberg, a Swedish activist and 2019 Right Livelihood Laureate, delivered the acceptance speech for whistleblower group Justice for Myanmar at the 2025 Right Livelihood Award Ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on Tuesday.
“We accept this award in honour of the courageous people of Myanmar, who, for nearly five years since the military’s brutal coup attempt, have stood against the junta with unyielding strength, dignity, and immense sacrifice,” Thunberg said on behalf of Justice for Myanmar, a covert group of human rights activists founded in 2019.
Justice for Myanmar was recognized by the Right Livelihood organization for “exposing the international financial and corporate networks that support the Myanmar regime.”
“The Right Livelihood Award reaffirms that Myanmar’s struggle is part of a global fight for justice and human dignity. To dismantle the military cartel, we need solidarity and action,” Thunberg added.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project has documented that up to 90,000 people in Myanmar have been killed since the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) government was ousted with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint held incommunicado by the regime ever since. NLD party members have been targeted with arrest, prison, or torture.
The NLD, which was founded in 1988, stated that 102 of the party’s members, including two members of parliament, have been killed and 1,905 have been arrested since the coup. This figure includes 144 members of parliament elected in 2020.
The NLD was dissolved by the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) for failing to re-register in March 2023. Some NLD members have joined the National Unity Government (NUG), a group of lawmakers ousted in the coup that want to re-establish democracy in Myanmar.
“This December, the military junta will be holding a sham election. We call on governments to reject this and stop the flow of funds, arms, equipment and aviation fuel that sustains the junta’s terror,” Thunberg said before concluding the award acceptance speech.
Justice for Myanmar has exposed the flow of money, arms, and equipment that sustains the military regime in Naypyidaw and its human rights abuses.
It calls for targeted international sanctions against the regime, arms and jet fuel embargoes against the military, as well as support for the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar.
Justice for Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said upon receiving news of the award in October that it honours “those who continue to resist the military [regime] with extraordinary courage, dignity, and strength.”
The Right Livelihood Award was created in 1980. It has awarded 203 laureates from 81 countries, including human rights defenders in Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the U.S.
This year’s laureates include activists from the Pacific Islands, Taiwan and Sudan. This is the first time an organization working on Myanmar has received the prize in its 45-year history.
