Childrenspeaceprize

The nominees for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2010 were announced during the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, which took place this weekend in Hiroshima. The programme in Hiroshima brought together laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize, including Mikhail Gorbachev and the Dalai Lama. On Saturday, Marc Dullaert, founder of the KidsRights Foundation, announced the four nominees for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2010 in the presence of the Nobel Peace laureates. The candidates have been selected by an independent Expert Committee out of almost 80 nominations from all over the world.

 The nominees for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2010:

• Tatiana (age 15) from the United States is working to increase the literacy of children in Africa. Tatiana herself collects books which she then sends to countries such as Botswana and Lesotho, in order to give the children there the opportunity to learn to read and write as well.
• Getahun (age 16) from Ethiopia wants to stop violence against children. So he speaks at traditional coffee meetings held by adults in his neighbourhood in order to create awareness of the problem, and he has set up a children’s parliament as a medium to protect children’s rights both in the community and at national level.
• Francia (age 16) from the Dominican Republic is campaigning for children’s rights to registration, a name and nationality. It is only after official registration that children have access to essential rights such as healthcare and education. She herself was registered just one year ago.
• Emmanuel (age 14) from Rwanda is working for the right to education and to break the vicious circle of poverty. He is doing this by teaching other children how to save money, so that they can pay their school fees themselves. He himself let one hen raise its chicks and then subsequently was able to sell ten hens. From this money he bought a bicycle which he rents out. The revenue enables him and his brother to go to school.

Every year an Expert Committee determines who is to be the winner of the International Children’s Peace Prize. The International Children’s Peace Prize 2010 will be presented in the Hall of the Knights in The Hague on 29 November by the Guatemalan human rights activist Rigoberta Menchú Tum, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 as the youngest ever laureate (age 33).