Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) are receiving the 2025 Right Livelihood Award for their grassroots network of mutual aid in Sudan that restores dignity to local communities and sustains millions amid the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
For 45 years, the Right Livelihood Award has honoured and supported courageous people leading the way to a just, peaceful and sustainable world for all. To date, 203 Laureates from 81 countries have received the Award, including Ukrainian human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, Congolese gynaecologist and women’s rights advocate Dr Denis Mukwege and American public interest lawyer Bryan Stevenson.
ERRs discussed their work during an online press conference on October 1. Watch here.
ERRs are a nationwide network of over 735 Emergency Response Rooms and nearly 10,000 volunteers. Operating in all 18 Sudanese states, they provide healthcare, food, education, civilian protection and psychosocial support at a time when violence and lack of funding have forced many international organisations to scale down their presence.
By decentralising decision-making and drawing on Sudan’s tradition of nafeer—community mutual aid—ERRs have built a model of humanitarian action that puts communities themselves in charge of identifying needs and directing resources. Professionals like farmers, bankers, engineers and teachers all contribute their skills to create a solidarity economy rooted in dignity and resilience.
Despite bombardments, arbitrary arrests and the loss of over one hundred volunteers, ERRs continue to operate hospitals, run communal kitchens, organise education programmes, evacuate civilians from active war zones and support survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Their efforts have saved countless lives while nurturing a culture of compassion and solidarity that lays the groundwork for Sudan’s future civil society and democratic renewal.
Right Livelihood’s jury said that ERRs were receiving the Award “for building a resilient model of mutual aid amid war and state collapse that sustains millions of people with dignity.”
Sanosi Adam, ERRs’ External Communications Officer, said:
“Receiving the Right Livelihood Award is not only a recognition of our work, but also a tribute to the courage and sacrifice of ordinary Sudanese people who, in the face of war and neglect, chose solidarity over despair. This award belongs to the countless volunteers and communities who continue to risk everything to keep one another alive. It strengthens our resolve to carry forward our struggle for dignified aid and solidarity of the people of Sudan.”
Ole von Uexkull, Right Livelihood’s Executive Director, said:
“As Sudan endures the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) show how communities can rise to the gravest challenges, delivering aid that is dignified, effective and rooted in solidarity. In honouring ERRs, we celebrate the power of people to confront systemic crises by building just and cooperative alternatives to violence and division.”
The other 2025 Right Livelihood Laureates are:
- Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (international) and Julian Aguon (Guam). Watch post-announcement press conference
- Audrey Tang (Taiwan). Watch post-announcement press conference
- Justice For Myanmar (Myanmar). For security reasons, contact us directly to request an interview.
The 2025 Laureates will be honoured during a televised Award Presentation in Stockholm on December 2.
Nominations are now also open for next year’s Award!
Find more information about the Laureates.
Photos and videos of the new Laureates can be found here.
Media contacts
- International media: Emoke Bebiak, emoke.bebiak@rightlivelihood.org, +41 78 333 84 84 and Temis Tormo, temis.tormo@rightlivelihood.org, +46 72 923 3182
- German media: Julia Naumann and Nina Tesenfitz, presse@rightlivelihood.org, +49 170 5763 663
- Spanish media: Nayla Azzinnari, nayla@rightlivelihood.org, +54 9 11 5460 9860
- Scandinavian media: Vanessa Marko, vanessa.marko@arenaopinion.se, +46 76 321 66 37
- Photos, videos: Mikaela Fredrikson, mikaela.fredrikson@rightlivelihood.org
