United Nations' "Race Against Poverty" Award-1998 for the Asia-Pacific region, to be given by the U.N. Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan, has been bestowed on Fatima Bi, Sarpanch of Kalva village of Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh, for her extraodinary effort in spearheading social mobilisaiton and community empowerment for poverty alleviation. An uneducated Fatima Bi has been a pioneer in mobilising women in her village to launch self-initiated programmes aimed at improving the lot of villagers.