Every Child Matters

For thirty-eight years, Mr. Kailash Satyarthi has struggled against the oppression of children and fought for their rights. He is the only recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who is Indian-born and a resident of the country. He received the Nobel Prize in 2014. The issue of child rights and child labour was not yet a part of the public discourse when Mr. Satyarthi founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) in 1981. BBA has since rescued more than 86, 000 children from conditions of exploitative labour and modern-day slavery and successfully rehabilitated them into society. As a global campaigner for child rights, his worldwide coalition, the Global March against Child Labour is the largest civil society network for the most exploited children. The march, conducted in 1998, traversed 80, 000 kms over 103 countries and resulted in international legislation banning the worst forms of child labour (ILO conventions 138 and 182). His nationwide march in India in 2001, demanding education as a fundamental right, resulted eventually in universal education becoming a birth right. In 2016, he announced the 100 Million for 100 Million Campaign that inspires 100 million young global citizens to partner with their 100 million less privileged brethren to create a better world for all. Recently, he led the historic Bharat Yatra against child sexual abuse and trafficking, that travelled 12, 000 kilometers across 22 states of India.