UAE-based Indian girl Kehkashan Basu wins 2016 International Children's Peace Prize

UAE based Indian environmental activist Kehkashan Basu (16) has won 2016 prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize.
She was bestowed with this prestigious award for her fight for climate justice and combating environmental degradation.
She was presented with the award by Bangladesh’s Nobel peace laureate Mohammad Yunus at a glittering ceremony held in The Hague, Netherlands.

About Kehkashan Basu

• She had started campaign to educated her neighbours on the importance of saving the environment at tender age of eight.
• She had brought together children to collect and recycle waste and also plant trees.
• She had founded her environmental organisation Green Hope based in the United Arab Emirates at the age of twelve.
• Through it, she has initiated countless cleanup operations and awareness campaigns. Now the organisation has more than 1,000 volunteers in 10 countries around the world.
• The organisation has successfully implemented environmental projects, including planting 5,000 trees in Colombia, Mexico, France, Nepal, Oman and the United States.

About International Children’s Peace Prize

• It is awarded annually to a child who has made a significant contribution to advocating children’s rights and improving the situation of vulnerable children.
• It carries monetary award 100,000 euro ($106,000) investment for projects in the winner’s home country.
• The prize was launched in 2005 by Marc Dullaert, Chairman and Founder of the Amsterdam-based children’s rights organization, KidsRights.
• In 2006, India’s Om Prakash Gurjar was given this award for setting up network of child friendly villages to give all children a birth certificate to protect them from exploitation.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2016