Ela Bhatt

", in 1972, we started SEWA, the Self Employed Women’s Association. SEWA in many respects is a microcosm of the general picture of the informal sector, in India and worldwide."

"...as I worked with the unionized labor, of the much larger labor force that was outside the purview of the protective labor laws, of any form of social security, access to justice, access to financia…"

"All my life I have worked to change concepts, and that begins with how people see and understand the problems."

"…Inner peace is important, but I have always felt that living a daily life with peace is the end. So in reality individual peace and global peace are not separate. They are one and the same."

"So for her contribution to India and particularly the women of India, and to the global community, it is my honour to present the first Global Fairness Award to my friend, Ela Bhatt"

"Injustice happens at many levels, from the grass roots to the top. And one of the keys of SEWA’s vision and action is linking them."

"Every human being has something, a spiritual element, that makes them want to do better, to reach higher."

"She has helped not only women in India but women in South Africa, in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and inspired so many others to find their own way forward to overcome long legacies of inequality and unfair…"