Kailash Satyarthi (born Kailash Sharma; 11 January 1954) is an Indian children's rights advocate and an activist against child labour. He founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (lit. Save the Childhood Movement) in 1980 and has acted to protect the rights of more than 83,000 children from 144 countries. It is largely because of Satyarthi's work and activism that the International Labour Organization adopted Convention No. 182 on the worst forms of child labour, which is now a principal guideline for governments around the world.
His work is recognized through various national and international honours and awards including the Nobel Peace Prize of 2014, which he shared with Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan.
Early life
Originally named Kailash Sharma, Satyarthi was born on 11 January 1954 in the Vidisha district of central Indian state Madhya Pradesh.
He attended Government Boys Higher Secondary School, and completed his degree in electrical engineering at Samrat Ashok Technological Institute, Vidisha and a post-graduate degree in high-voltage engineering. He then joined a college in Bhopal as a lecturer for a few years.
Work
In 1980, he gave up his career as a teacher and became secretary general for the Bonded Labor Liberation Front; he also founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save the Childhood Mission) that year. He has also been involved with the Global March Against Child Labor and its international advocacy body, the International Center on Child Labor and Education (ICCLE), which are worldwide coalitions of NGOs, teachers and trades unionists. He has also served as the President of the Global Campaign for Education, from its inception in 1999 to 2011, having been one of its four founders alongside ActionAid, Oxfam and Education International.
In addition, he established GoodWeave International (formerly known as Rugmark) as the first voluntary labelling, monitoring and certification system of rugs manufactured without the use of child-labour in South Asia. This latter organisation operated a campaign in Europe and the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the intent of raising consumer awareness of the issues relating to the accountability of global corporations with regard to socially responsible consumerism and trade. Satyarthi has highlighted child labor as a human rights issue as well as a welfare matter and charitable cause. He has argued that it perpetuates poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, population growth, and other social problems, and his claims have been supported by several studies. He has also had a role in linking the movement against child labour with efforts for achieving "Education for All". He has been a member of a UNESCO body established to examine this and has been on the board of the Fast Track Initiative (now known as the Global Partnership for Education). Satyarthi serves on the board and committee of several international organisations including the Center for Victims of Torture (USA), the International Labor Rights Fund (USA), and the International Cocoa Foundation. He is now reportedly working on bringing child labour and slavery into the post-2015 development agenda for the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals.
Satyarthi, along with Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education". Satyarthi is the fifth Nobel Prize winner for India and only the second Indian winner of the Nobel Peace Prize after Mother Teresa in 1979.
Personal life
He lives in New Delhi, India. His family includes his wife, a son, daughter-in-law and a daughter. He has been described as an excellent cook.
Awards and honours
Satyarthi has been the subject of a number of documentaries, television series, talk shows, advocacy and awareness films. Satyarthi has been awarded the following national and international honours:
- 2014: Nobel Peace Prize
- 2009: Defenders of Democracy Award (US)
- 2008: Alfonso Comin International Award (Spain)
- 2007: Gold medal of the Italian Senate (2007)
- 2007: recognized in the list of "Heroes Acting to End Modern Day Slavery" by the US State Department
- 2006: Freedom Award (US)
- 2002: Wallenberg Medal, awarded by the University of Michigan
- 1999: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Award (Germany)
- 1998: Golden Flag Award (Netherlands)
- 1995: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (US)
- 1995: The Trumpeter Award (US)
- 1994: The Aachener International Peace Award (Germany)
- 1993: Elected Ashoka Fellow (US)
Reception in India
The discussion of legalization of child labor was raised after Satyarthi received the Nobel Prize. According to some, it will make child labor go underground, which may cause reduced wages.
Books
- Satyarthi, Kailash; Zutshi, Bupinder (2006). Globalisation, Development And Child Rights. New Delhi: Shipra Publications. ISBNÂ 9788175412705.Â
See also
- Child labour
References
External links
- Official website
- Kailash Satyarthi on Twitter
- Kailash Satyarthi: How to make peace? Get angry at TED