Record 120 nominations for International Children’s Peace Prize 2016

http://bit.ly/1e3iCuh

 

Amstelveen, the Netherlands, 31 March 2016 – The KidsRights Foundation has closed the call to nominations for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2016. KidsRights is very proud to announce that a record number of 120 nominations from 49 countries have been received. Previous International Children’s Peace Prize winners Chaeli Mycroft and Malala Yousafzai are notable examples of people who have nominated a boy or girl for this year’s Prize, which will be awarded on December 2nd 2016 in The Hague, the Netherlands.

 

Refugee children

The 120 brave children have personally improved the rights of children in their respective countries on themes including Peace, Education and Child Participation. Especially noteworthy this year were the great number of nominations relating to the rights of children in refugee camps. Various nominees have fought courageously for the rights of children in such camps in order to combat violations including child labour and to champion refugee children’s rights to education and peaceful coexistence within local communities. Moreover, many of the nominations relate to girl’s rights. Several nominees have demonstrated wonderful commitment to combating, among other issues, child marriage, violence against girls and discrimination against indigenous girls. Other themes include access to technology, child trafficking, poverty, hunger, children with disabilities and environmental issues.

 

Nominations by renowned child rights advocates

During the nomination window, KidsRights received submissions from various famous children’s rights advocates, including Malala Yousafzai, who won the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2013 and went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize the very next year. 2011’s winner Chaeli Mycroft has also nominated a child, as did Mrs Tawakkol Karman, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.

 

Most nominations were from NGOs, both NGOs active on a national platform as well as international organizations such as Save the Children, SOS Children’s Villages and Plan International.

 

Nominating countries

The top six nominating countries are India (ten nominees), Pakistan (nine nominees), Colombia (seven nominees), Afghanistan, Nigeria (six nominees) and Palestine (five nominees).

+++