A 16-year-old Indian environmental activist based in the UAE has won this year’s prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize for her fight for climate justice and combating environmental degradation.
Kehkashan Basu was presented the award by Bangladesh’s Nobel peace laureate Mohammad Yunus at a glittering ceremony in The Hague.
- After receiving the prize, Basu said she would “keep campaigning to encourage children and adults to create a more sustainable future“.
- Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his efforts for economic and social development, underlined the urgency and importance of Kehkashan’s work, as more than three million children under the age of five die every year from environment—related diseases and many more suffer deeply from environmental issues.
- She founded her organisation Green Hope at the age of twelve, through which she has initiated countless clean up operations and awareness campaigns.
- Green Hope has become an international organisation with activities in more than ten countries and over a thousand young volunteers.
The International Children’s Peace Prize
The International Children’s Peace Prize is an initiative of Marc Dullaert, Chairman and Founder of the Dutch KidsRights Foundation, and is awarded annually to a child, anywhere in the world, for his or her dedication to children’s rights.
The winner receives the statuette ‘Nkosi’, which shows how a child sets the world in motion.
