Teodoro Obiang ataca de novo

We write to alert you to the fact that the UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences is once again coming up for consideration at UNESCO. As you know, UNESCO’s governing executive board decided last October to indefinitely suspend the prize in the wake of a vigorous global campaign by individuals and organizations. Your support was key in achieving that suspension, which was an important victory.

We recently learned that a proposal to reinstate the prize has been placed on the agenda for UNESCO’s upcoming executive board meeting. The meeting’s plenary session begins on Monday, September 26, and the prize could be considered as early as Wednesday, September 28.

Although an effort by the government of Equatorial Guinea to reinstate the prize failed in May, its current effort presents a far more serious threat because the government is not acting alone. In June, President Obiang used his position as Chair of the African Union to get an African Union resolution that calls on UNESCO to reinstate the prize. He has been able to use the AU resolution to get the issue back on the agenda less than a year after it was shelved indefinitely.

We would welcome your continued support for the campaign against the UNESCO-Obiang prize. We hope you will help us persuade UNESCO to block this latest effort to reinstate it and to instead cancel the prize definitively. You can take action by contacting directly African foreign ministries, writing to individual country delegates on the board (see below for more information), or alerting any media contacts you may have about this latest maneuver by President Obiang to try to revive this ill-conceived prize.

Thank you in advance for your support, and please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely yours,

Tutu Alicante

EG Justice