The Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation continued a long-standing tradition with the presentation of the 28th Annual Global Citizen Awards recent at a celebration in Saskatoon.
Among the honourees were Dr. Alaa Murabit, a Saskatoon-born doctor making headlines as a global leader on health equity and gender equality for the United Nations - as well as Marcella Pedersen, a life-long ecological, human rights, and food sovereignty advocate with roots in Cut Knife.
Marcella Pedersen has been an activist all her life, having devoted herself for decades to solidarity work through organizations that intersect with global and local justice, including Development and Peace, the National Farmers’ Union, and the Catholic Women’s League.
“To me, global citizenship means supporting and standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world, not only with financial support, but also with human resources,” said Pedersen. “As a promoter of letter writing, I often say: ‘If you haven't written a letter to your government representative this week, why haven’t you?’ There are so many issues to cover today.”
Pedersen has stepped up to take on leadership roles within these organizations and has also done the hard work at the grassroots level. With a background in farming and as a reflexologist, Marcella is very concerned about farm security and food sovereignty as it relates to health.
“I think that climate change, food sovereignty, and concentration of economic power in fewer and fewer hands are some of the biggest challenges facing our global community today. However, I do see promising solutions, such as using renewable energy, increasing peasant or small-scale farming, and treating the land with dignity.”
Marcella is married to Gilbert, her husband of 46 years, with whom she has two children, Yens and Karen, and two grandchildren. In 2009, Marcella and Gilbert joined the North Saskatchewan River Environmental Society in a struggle to stop nuclear development and to encourage conservation and wind and solar energy. For 30 years, they have lived in a passive solar heated home. In 2010 they installed four wind turbines on their farm and solar panels for heating the honey house.
