For the fourth year in a row, ONE, Accountability Lab, and #CultureFix have teamed up to host the Honesty Oscars! This campaign honors inspirational organizations, activists, and artists who make our world more transparent and hold our governments and corporations more accountable.
And once again, YOU got to choose the winner! Hundreds of you went to honestyoscars.org to vote on who you think should win in the categories of Best Female Activist, Best Male Activist, Best Photo, Best Picture/Film, and Best Song. And the winners are…
Nadia Murad has overcome horrific events to become one of the most powerful activists against human trafficking. She was one of more than 6,700 Yazidi women taken captive by the Islamic State in Iraq 2014, during which time she was kept enslaved and abused. After escaping to Germany, she began Nadia’s Initiative, an organization “dedicated to helping women and children victimized by genocide, mass atrocities and human trafficking heal and re-build their lives and communities.” She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought last October shortly after becoming the first ever Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations.
Gyan Maharjan is the president and co-founder of X-Pose Nepal, an organization dedicated to curbing the pervasive sexual assault and harassment of women in secondary and higher educational institutions. X-Pose operates under the motto, “To end all types of sexual abuse and exploitation.” His work includes creating programming in schools to combat gender-based violence and sexual harassment. He supports the education of over 70 underprivileged children from marginalized populations. Gyan was also active in the recovery programs following Nepal’s 2015 earthquakes.
“A walk through Delhi’s polluted streets”, a photo series by photographer Matthieu Paley, exposes the impact of urbanization, density of cars, and the practice of burning refuse in India’s capital city, the most polluted area in the world according to the World Health Organization. The series captures the variety of different factors contributing to the city’s pollution- such as industries dumping chemical waste into the Yamuna river or a smog covered village below an open-air garbage dump. It just as well captures scenes that demonstrate the impact of pollution on the daily lives of city’s inhabitants from all different walks of life.
“The Ivory Game” explores both elephant poaching and the illegal ivory trade in Hong Kong and China. Both directors Davidson and Ladkani as well as their crew went undercover to research the illegal activities. Their dedication brought to light ongoing international criminal activity that involves multiple countries and actors. It showcased the pervasive flaws in ivory regulation and, ultimately, put it to governments to improve their performance or face the imminent extinction of elephants.
New York-based singer-songwriter Raye Zaragoza wrote “ In The River: A Protest Song” to support the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Identifying as Native, part Pima, Raye was inspired by listening to different testimonials of the Standing Rock Sioux people and says “Any threat to water is a threat to all of us.” Listen here.
