The International Children's Peace Prize is awarded annually to a child who has made a significant contribution to advocating children's rights and improving the situation of vulnerable children such as orphans, child labourers and children with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

/ AIDS. The prize is an initiative of Marc Dullaert, founder of the KidsRights Foundation, an international children's aid and advocacy organisation based in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The winner receives a 100,000 euro donation to benefit a charitable project for children, as well as a statuette which has been named the Nkosi in Nkosi Johnson's honour. The statuette is of a child pushing a ball, "show nghow a child sets the world in motion."

History

The first Children's Peace Prize was launched in November 2005 during the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, an annual meeting of

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolog ...

winners and international organisations such as

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

and Amnesty International. "We welcome the launch of Children’s Peace Prize during our summit," the summit's closing statement said. Mikhail Gorbachev presented the 2005 prize, which was posthumously awarded to

Nkosi Johnson Nkosi Johnson (born Xolani Nkosi; – ) was a South African child with HIV and AIDS who greatly influenced public perceptions of the pandemic and its effects before his death at the age of 12. He was ranked fifth amongst SABC3's Great So ...

, a

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n boy who brought international attention to children with HIV/AIDS and founded the Nkosi's Haven home for HIV-positive mothers and children. The 2006 award was handed out by Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Frederik Willem de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk (, , 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president from 1994 to 1996 in the democratic government. As South A ...

in a ceremony at the Binnenhof, the seat of the Dutch parliament in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

. The 2007 was presented at the Binnenhof by Bob Geldof and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Betty Williams. The 2008 prize was presented by Desmond Tutu. In 2018 a finalist was Leilua Lino, a human rights activist from Samoa.

Recipients

Neha Gupta receiving the International Children's Peace Prize

Similar awards

An International Children's Peace Prize is also handed out by the Children as the Peacemakers Foundation. The

World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child was founded in 2000 and is run by the World's Children's Prize Foundation (WCPF), based in Mariefred, Sweden. The WCPF is a non-profit organisation, independent of all political and r ...

is awarded yearly by Swedish organisation Children's World. The Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) issues a World Children Peace Prize.

Sources

The Children's Peace Prize

KidsRights Foundation

World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates closing statement

(Dutch)
Children as the Peacemakers Foundation

References

External links

Winners International Children's Peace Prize
{{Awardees of the International Children's Peace Prize Peace awards Children's rights organizations Human rights awards Awards honoring children or youth Awards established in 2005