Dubai: A UAE-based teen has been announced one of the three finalists for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2016.
Environmentalist Kehkashan Basu, 16, who founded Green Hope in 2012, was named by international child rights organisation KidsRights on Thursday, just days ahead of Universal Children’s Day (November 20).
From a record number of 120 international entries, an expert committee chose Basu from the UAE, Muzoon Almellehan, 18, from Syria and Divina Maloum, 12, from Cameroon.
According to the committee, all three have improved the rights and position of children in unique and tangible ways. Every year, the young prize-winner gains an international platform to share his or her message with hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
In line with tradition, the Children’s Peace Prize will be awarded by a Nobel Peace Laureate. This year, Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2006 Muhammad Yunus will present the prize in the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal) at The Hague on December 2.
International praise
Yunus said: “I congratulate the three finalists and thank them for their invaluable contributions to children’s rights and sustainable peace. Our world desperately needs young change-makers like Divina, Kehkashan and Muzoon, who through their work have proved just how powerful and resilient children are. Adults do not have all the answers. Decision-makers should and must listen to the opinions of children, who have the power to ignite change and move the world.”
Basu began campaigning to protect the environment at an early age. At the age of just eight, she organised an awareness-raising campaign for the recycling of waste in her neighbourhood in Dubai. In 2012, she founded her own organisation, Green Hope, which runs waste-collection, beach-cleaning and awareness-raising campaigns. Through a series of campaigns and lectures, she has demonstrated to thousands of school and university students how important it is to care properly for the environment. Basu has addressed various international conferences and Green Hope is now active in ten countries with more than 1,000 young volunteers.
Basu was nominated by her father.
Previous winners include Nkosi Johnson, who fought for the rights of children with Aids, and Malala Yousafzai, who won the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2013.
