Child Rights Heroes

This year, millions of children around the world will be taking part in the 20th Global Vote to award prizes to Child Rights Heroes, who are all doing fantastic work to support vulnerable children and their rights. To date, almost 46 million children have voted for their favourite Child Rights Hero.

Every year, the World’s Children’s Prize child jury selects three Child Rights Heroes from among the nominated candidates. These three become the final candidates for the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child. The prize cannot be awarded based solely on votes from a candidate’s own country. If the children in all the other countries have collectively chosen a different recipient for the World’s Children’s Prize, then this Child Rights Hero will receive the prize.

To enable you to make an informed and fair choice in the Global Vote, it is important to know about all three candidates equally. You can read all about them and the children they fight for on the following pages.

The two candidates who are not awarded the prize from the children’s votes receive the World’s Children’s Honorary Award instead. All three Child Rights Heroes receive prize money to be used in their work for children.

Candidate 1

Bangladesh

Pages 52–67

Candidate 2

Cindy Blackstock Canada

Pages 68–83

Candidate 3

Thích Nu Minh Tú

Vietnam

Pages 84–97

Why is Rezwan a nominee?

Mohammed Rezwan has been nominated for his 25-year campaign for children’s right, and particularly girls’ right to go to school, despite �looding and increased poverty due to climate change.

The Challenge

Every year, thousands of schools and school routes are destroyed as a result of flooding in Bangladesh, which is being made worse by climate change. The education of millions of children is affected, and many never go back to school. Instead they are forced to work, and girls are often married off.

The Work

Rezwan and his organization Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha (SSS) run 26 floating schools on the rivers. The boat schools fetch the children where they live, so they can go to school even if the roads are under water. SSS also has floating libraries and health clinics, and offers vocational training on boat schools for young women. Every village with a boat school also has a Young Women’s Rights Association that fights for girls’ rights and campaigns against child marriage.

RESULTS & VISION

Since 1998, some 22,000 children have received an education through the boat schools. The floating libraries and health clinics reach 150,000 villagers every year. 15,000 young women receive vocational training to give them a better future. The practice of child marriage is declining where the boat schools visit. Rezwan wants to start up more boat schools. His idea of floating schools has spread throughout Bangladesh and to eight other countries.