Dominican activist Sonia Pierre receives award in USA

posted on: Mar 11 2010 10:57 by Royston. Viewed 360 times.


Dominican activist Sonia Pierre, a champion of the rights of Haitian immigrants in her home country, yesterday received the Woman of Courage Award, along with nine other women who are prominent in the struggle for human rights.

The U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, presented the awards at the State Department, in recognition of  Women's Day on Monday.

"If Sonia Pierre was able to protest and demand better conditions for migrant workers at the age of 13, actions for which she was arrested, then none of you are too young to make a difference," said First Lady, Michelle Obama at the ceremony.

Pierre, an activist from an early age, is the founder of the Movement for Dominican-Haitian Women (MUDHA). She defends the descendants of Haitians in the Dominican Republic with little access to health, education, housing and decent working conditions. The activist, who has already received  the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, led the complaints that led to a settlement in 2005 in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which ordered the Dominican Government to compensate two girls of Haitian descent to whom they had denied citizenship.

MUDHA is dedicated to building homes for Haitian immigrants, and campaigns against teen pregnancy and prevention of diseases such as AIDS. The other women who received the award  from Clinton are from Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Kenya, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Zimbabwe.