The UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences will be awarded tomorrow in Paris amidst much controversy. The issue is not about the leading scientists from Egypt, Mexico and South Africa who are receiving the prize, but regards UNESCO, who is awarding it under the auspices of Equatorial Guinea's president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Mr Obiang, who is subsidising the prize to a tune of 3 million US dollars, is known for exploiting his nation's generous oil revenues, while most of his citizens live in such abject poverty, that Equatorial Guinea is left with one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.
This is scandalous when one considers that it is estimated that profits from the country's oil and gas revenues alone could allow its population of 600,000 people an income of $37,000 a year. It is understandable, then, that several human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, Sherpa and Transparency International are outraged. They see UNESCO's association with Mr Obiang as an endorsement of his regime and would like to see the money spent on the people who need it most within his own borders. The fact that Mr Obiang's son and Vice-President Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue is a UNESCO diplomat and that he being investigated in France over money-laundering, does not help the problem.
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