INITIATIVES

Laureates and Leaders for Children

Kailash Satyarthi launched the Laureates and Leaders for Children in 2016, bringing together multiple Nobel Laureates and world leaders to ensure freedom and dignity for all children. The Laureates and Leaders for Children hosted three summits:

• The inaugural summit, held in 2016, was hosted by then President of India Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi. Approximately 30 leaders, including 14 Nobel Laureates hailing from various disciplines, heads of UN agencies and former Presidents and Prime Ministers, came together to prioritize the well-being of children. The leaders stressed that all 193 of the world’s governments in the United Nations have adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for the year 2030 and called on all nations to implement the SDGs with urgency.
• The Second Laureates and Leaders for Children summit, which took place on 26th and 27th March, 2018, at the Dead Sea in Jordan, brought together 21 Nobel Laureates, global leaders, over 200 dignitaries and nearly 200 youngsters. The central theme of the summit was ‘Children on the Move’, highlighting the trauma faced by millions of children who are forced to leave their homes due to war, violence, economic hardship, and environmental disasters. The Nobel Laureates and global leaders called for stronger international policies, resulting in the formation of action plans and collaborations aimed at improving the lives of displaced children.
• The 2023 summit took place on 14th July, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with a resolute focus on tackling the systemic injustices confronting children in Africa. Organised by Kailash Satyarthi, the summit united global leaders, Nobel laureates, activists, and policymakers to raise awareness about the pressing challenges impacting African children while advocating for immediate, large-scale reforms to safeguard their rights.

Read More

The Fair Share for Children Summit 2020

The core idea behind the Fair Share for Children summit was to ensure that resources, policies, and systems are fairly allocated to benefit the world’s children, especially those who are marginalised, exploited, and deprived of their rights, and protect their rights to education, health, safety, and development.

• Through this initiative, Kailash Satyarthi has been able to influence global dialogues on taxation and economic reforms. The initiative advocated for a fairer distribution of wealth, with a specific focus on redirecting funds to policies and interventions centred around children.
• Discussions prioritizing the rights of children made their way to platforms like the United Nations. This helped strengthen the necessity to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to education, poverty reduction, and gender equality.
• The initiative has contributed to increased global attention on child labour, particularly in regions where it is most prevalent, calling for stronger enforcement of laws and policies.
• Efforts have been made to mobilise additional funding from both the public and private sectors to support programmes for children.

Read More

100 Million for 100 Million

The ‘100 Million for 100 Million’ campaign is a youth-led call to action to mobilise youngsters to end violence against children, eradicate child labour, and ensure education, breaking the vicious cycles of poverty, illiteracy and exploitation. The campaign was launched by then President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, on 11th December, 2016. Six thousand young people, who stood with Kailash Satyarthi, were also a part of the launch.

• The campaign has grown to over 40 countries and works with youth activists, students and young people facing injustice. The campaign strengthens their leadership by providing materials, policy briefings and conducting in-person meetings.
• 100 Million has created the first democratic group of youth and student-led organizations that has a say in the governance of the global fund, Education Cannot Wait.
• It has also partnered with organizations that support children and young people, such as the Global Students Forum (GSF), the All Africa Students’ Union (AASU), the European Students’ Union (ESU), OBESSU, the Commonwealth Students’ Association (CSA), Education International, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Read More