If you haven’t heard it already, India-based Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan-based Malala Yousafzai have just received the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. But do you have any idea about the awesome things that Satyarthi has done?
Here are 10 things that you must know about him:
1. He was born on January 11, 1954 , in Vidisha, located near Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
3. He gave up a promising career as an electrical engineer when he was all of 26 to dedicate his life to help kids forced into slavery.
4. The founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, he has helped free around 80,000 children from the clutches of slavery and child labour.
5. He also rescues women from enslavement in filthy factories with deplorable conditions and sexual assault.
6. He created “Rugmark” which certifies that carpets and rugs sold abroad aren’t made by child labourers.
The movement succesfully spread awareness about child rights globally.
7. He is the face of Global March Against Child Labor – a large group of as many as 2000 social-purpose organizations and unions active in 140 countries.
8. He heads the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude (SACCS) which rallies national and international institutions and NGOs to bring pressure on governments, manufacturers, and importers to stop exploiting illegal labor.
9. Despite facing false charges and death threats for his work, he continued to work for his vision.
Two of his colleagues have even been murdered.
10. His work has been appreciated and honoured earlier as well.
He received a grant from the Skoll Foundation, the Freedom Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, and the US State Department’s Heroes Acting to End Modern-Day Slavery award.
His organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan made this touching video.