大象传媒

Among the winners of this year鈥檚 Right Livelihood Award - widely known as the "Alternative Nobel Prize" - is Phyllis Omido.

Based in Mombasa, Kenya she is being awarded 鈥渇or her ground-breaking struggle to secure land and environmental rights for local communities while advancing the field of environmental law.鈥�

When Newsday caught up with the environmental and rights campaigner her first task was to explain how her nickname came about.

"In Swahili it means Mother Against the Smoke, that is because I am known as responding to cases against pollution."

"When I began I was criminalised... since then it's been 10 years I have been doing this work, unfortunately the situation has not changed much."

(Pic: Phyllis Omido; Credit: Getty Images)