MURHABAZI NAMEGABE FROM D.R.CONGO RECEIVES WORLD’S CHILDREN’S PRIZE
On Tuesday, at hundreds of Worlds Childrens Press Conferences all over the world, children revealed who 3,2 million children have chosen in a Global Vote to be their child rights hero: “Our child rights hero, and the recipient of the 2011 World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child, is Murhabazi Namegabe from D. R. Congo for his dangerous struggle to free children forced to be child soldiers or sex slaves. Murhabazi’s life is constantly threatened because of his work for children.”
The Worlds Childrens Honorary Award goes to Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, from the Philippines, for her tireless struggle, despite constant death threats, against child labour and trafficking, as well as her support to girls who have been sex slaves, and Monira Rahman, from Bangladesh, for her fearless struggle for those – mainly girls – who have been victims
of acid attacks or petrol attacks and whose appearances have been destroyed. The Prize Laureates are presented in more detail below and at worldschildrensprize.org.
THE WORLD’S CHILDREN’S PRIZE
The World’s Children’s Prize is a unique educational programme for children, promoting a more humane world. 53,800 schools with 24.5 million pupils in 102 countries are involved. Every year millions of children learn about the rights of the child, democracy and global friendship through the programme. Many have had their own rights violated. They gain faith in the future and a chance to demand respect for their rights. In the Global Vote, the children decide who receives
their prestigious award for their work for the rights of the child.
The candidates for the Prize are chosen by a child jury who are experts in the rights of the child through their own experience – as child soldiers, debt slaves, homeless children, child rights advocates and more. The Prize Laureates become role models for millions of children. The prize money, USD 100,000 this year, is used to help some of the
world’s most vulnerable children to a better life. The patrons of the World’s Children’s Prize include Nelson Mandela, H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden and Graa Machel.
The Worlds Childrens Prize, founded in Sweden in 2000, is run annually in collaboration with tens of thousands of teachers and hundreds of organisations all over the world, and with support from sources including Sida (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), Swedish Post Code Lottery, Save the Children Sweden, Hugo Stenbeck Foundation and Surv Family Foundation.
The Worlds Childrens Prize in Zimbabwe
Since the inauguration of the Worlds Childrens Prize in 2000, 882,296 children in Zimbabwe have participated in the program and 738 schools in Zimbabwe have registered as Global Friend schools supporting the Worlds Childrens Prize.
The Award Ceremony takes place at Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred, Sweden at 2pm on 28 April. Children from 15 countries and H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden will pay tribute to the Prize Laureates. Please register media attendance in advance.
Information and high-res pictures can be found at www.worldschildensprize.org. Video footage is available either from the
contacts below or at www.thenewsmarket.com/worldschildrensprize, whereyou can preview and request video. Broadcast standard video can be sent digitally or by DVD from this site. Registration and video is free to the media.
Contact in Zimbabwe: Nyasha Mazango, Tel: 0772288251, 0773045643, nyashabm@yahoo.com.
Contact in Sweden: magnus.bergmar@worldschildrensprize.org Tel: +46-159-12900, +46-70-5155839, or Andreas Lnn +46-70-3441890
WORLD’S CHILDREN’S PRIZE LAUREATES 2011
Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, Philippines
Cecilia Flores-Oebanda is honored for her 20-year struggle against child labour and trafficking.
Cecilia herself was five when she started working, and she has made it her lifes work to fight for the rights of the poorest and most vulnerable children. Cecilia founded the organisation Visayan Forum, which has rescued tens of thousands of girls from slave labour and trafficking. They do preventative work in towns and rural areas to stop children from being exploited.
Cecilia has influenced legislation in the Philippines and the wider world to bring about better protection for children. Despite constant death threats, she doesnt give up. Cecilia and Visayan Forum run eight halfway houses for girls all over
the country, four support centres for domestic workers and one safe house, a home for those worst affected.
Since 2000, Cecilia and Visayan Forum have helped 60,000 victims of trafficking and taken several cases to court. They have trained thousands of partners to combat trafficking, including judges, prosecutors, police, travel agencies and government authorities.
Monira Rahman, Bangladesh
Monira Rahman is honored for her courageous struggle to put a stop to acid and petrol violence in Bangladesh. Most of those affected are girls, but women, boys and men are also attacked. Often young girls are attacked with acid for spurning a marriage or love offer. Attacks on men, but also women, often arise out of disputes over land.
Many young children are attacked because they were sleeping with their mother. Some babies are acid attacked by their father because of being girls. Acid violence has been common for some time, but before Acid Survivors Foundation, established in 1999 with Monira as its director, this issue was not recognized as a matter of violation of human rights. In the organisations early years, there was more than one acid attack every day in Bangladesh.
Today, there are only half as many attacks. But the goal is for no one – no child, no girl, no woman and no man – to be attacked with acid or petrol by the year 2015. ASF helps survivors to live an active life, with dignity. They even offer plastic surgery, if necessary. The survivors themselves are the greatest activists against this kind of violence.
Murhabazi Namegabe, DR Congo
Murhabazi Namegabe is honored for his 20-year long perilous struggle for children in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since 1989, Murhabazi and his organisation BVES has freed 4,000 child soldiers and more than 4,500 girls who have been sexually assaulted by armed groups, and taken care of 4,600 unaccompanied refugee children. His 35 homes and schools offer some of the worlds most vulnerable children food, clothes, a home, healthcare, therapy, the opportunity to go to school, security and love.
Most of the children are reunited with their fami- lies. Thanks to Murhabazi, some 60,000 children have passed through the doors of BVES various centres and been given a better life. Murhabazi and BVES represent children in DR Congo by constantly urging the government, all armed groups, organisations and everyone else in society to look after the countrys children. Not everyone supports Murhabazis struggle. He has been imprisoned and assaulted and is constantly receiving death threats. Seven of his colleagues have been killed.
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