BIOGRAPHY

A visionary global thought leader and social reformer, Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi is at the forefront of globalising compassion. Satyarthi's life and mission embody the profound impact of compassion, illustrating its transformative power to drive meaningful change. He strongly believes that compassion is not a weak emotion but provides endless energy and drive to take compassionate action to alleviate others' suffering as if it were one's own. Through his latest movement, Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion, Satyarthi aims to globalise compassion to promote a just, peaceful and sustainable world using Compassion as a guiding force. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for his ‘struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.’ Satyarthi's fearless and relentless efforts to eliminate violence against the vulnerable have sparked numerous mass movements and led to the creation of groundbreaking legislations worldwide.

As a worldwide campaigner, he has been the architect of the single largest civil society network for the most exploited children, the Global March Against Child Labour. The physical march led to the adoption of ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour in 1999.

He is also the founding president of the Global Campaign for Education, an exemplary civil society movement working to end the global education crisis. He successfully spearheaded a countrywide movement to make education a Constitutional Provision which subsequently paved the way for the Right to Free and Compulsory Education in India in 2009. Satyarthi is credited for establishing GoodWeave International (previously known as Rugmark), a first-of-its-kind certification and social labelling mechanism for child labour-free carpets in South Asia. He has worked to advance ethical business practices, to help businesses liberate their supply chains from child labour.

Satyarthi launched Laureates and Leaders for Children, a platform bringing together Nobel Laureates and leaders committed to working together for the world’s most vulnerable children. Alongside former child labourers and students, he also launched the 100 Million campaign in 2016 to inspire and mobilise young people to stand up and act for their rights and the rights of their peers. Satyarthi has been at the forefront of demanding social protection for vulnerable children living in African nations and other low-income countries.

He has been at the forefront of driving child-related agendas into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which resulted in the UN Secretary-General appointing him an SDG Advocate in 2021. Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation is ensuring an end to the exploitation of children in India and around the world by addressing the inequality, injustice and discrimination that lie at the core of child labour.

Through his organization, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, Satyarthi has liberated more than 138,000 children from child labour, slavery, trafficking, and other forms of exploitation and pioneered a successful model for their education, rehabilitation, and reintegration into mainstream society.

Satyarthi has dedicated his life to realising his vision of ending violence against children and building a world where every child is free to be a child.