Ela
Bhatt received the Right Livelihood Award in 1984 for helping to organize SEWA,
the Self-Employed Women's Association, which is now the largest union in India
with over half a million members. The trade union also started a cooperative bank
which offers microcredit loans to help women become financially independent. SEWA
also provides education, legal services, and child-care facilities. In 2007, on
his 89th birthday, Nelson Mandela announced the launch of Global Elders, a new
international organization of some of the world's leading social change advocates
including Ela Bhatt, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson and Muhammad Yunus,
to address the planet's most pressing social issues.
