A group of civil society and human rights advocates is criticizing UNESCO’s plan to award its prize for life sciences named after Equatorial Guinea’s leader, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo due to widespread accusation of corruption and human rights violation against his government, U.N. News center reports.
“The grim irony of awarding a prize recognizing ‘scientific achievements that improve the quality of human life’, while naming it for a president whose 30-year rule has been marked by the brutal poverty and fear of his people and a global reputation for governmental corruption, would bring shame on UNESCO,” said a coalition of 30 groups in a statement sent to UNESCO. The groups include international NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Global Witness.
The president is accused of funding the USD3 million prize to cleanse his negative reputation in the international community. Obiang rules the African country since 1979 and though Equatorial Guinea’s per-capita gross domestic product rivals other developed countries, a huge gap in income inequality prevails, where 75 percent of the population are living below the poverty line.
