Country for PR: United Kingdom
Contributor: PR Newswire Europe
Tuesday, October 08 2019 - 03:13
AsiaNet
Desmond Tutu Announces the Winners of the International Children's Peace Prize 2019: Greta Thunberg (16) From Sweden and Divina Maloum (14) From Cameroon
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --

The International Children's Peace Prize is an initiative of the International 
children's rights organization KidsRights. Each year the young winner's message 
reaches millions of people worldwide.

From an impressive 137 applicants from 56 countries, the KidsRights' Expert 
Committee selected Divina from Cameroon and Greta from Sweden as winners. The 
International Children's Peace Prize will be awarded on November 20th, on 
Universal Children's Day in The Hague. The very special award ceremony, will 
also celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the International Children's Peace 
Prize which became a global phenomenon and reached 1.2 billion people last year.

Personal congratulations from Archbishop Tutu

Archbishop Tutu, who has been the patron of the International Children's Peace 
Prize and KidsRights for more than a decade, said in a personal message to the 
winners: "I am in awe of you. Your powerful message is amplified by your 
youthful energy and unshakable belief that children can, no must, improve their 
own futures. You are true change-makers who have demonstrated most powerfully 
that children can move the world."

Introducing the winners

"The impact of both Greta and Divina for the future of many children is 
unmistakable, they are the rightful winners of the International Children's 
Peace Prize 2019," said Marc Dullaert, Founder of KidsRights and chairman of 
the Expert Committee.

Divina Maloum (14 years old, Cameroon, theme: Peace). Since 2014, Cameroon has 
experienced terrorist attacks. When Divina visited the north of the country, 
she was horrified to see that children were the biggest victims of these 
terrorist attacks. She realized that many children do not know their rights, 
and so she created Children for Peace (C4P) to warn them about enrolment in 
armed groups and to reinforce the participation of children in peace-building 
and sustainable development. C4P is now a network of 100 children across the 
ten regions of Cameroon. She empowers them to be changemakers and to take part 
in peace initiatives in their communities. She has organized an inter-community 
children's peace camp, established peace clubs in mosques, and together with 
other children, made a children's declaration against violent extremism. Divina 
has big plans for the future and will not stop advocating for the right of 
children to live in peace.

Greta Thunberg (16 years old, Sweden, theme: environment) is a climate activist 
and a role model for international student climate activism. At the age of 
eight, when she first learned about climate change, she was shocked that adults 
did not appear to take the issue seriously. She could not understand why adults 
were not taking action against the climate crisis. Greta became depressed. She 
didn't eat, go to school or speak for months. It was vital for Greta to take 
measures in her own life; she refrains from flying, eats no meat or dairy and 
she has a shop stop, meaning that she doesn't buy new things. On August 20th 
2018 Greta decided that it was time for her to take her efforts to the next 
level and speak out. She wanted more people to be aware and take action. 
Inspired by the 2018 International Children's Peace Prize winners March for Our 
Lives, she sat down in front of Sweden's parliament with a self-made banner 
skolstrejk for klimatet (school strike for climate).

Please visit the website for more information about the International 
Children's Peace Prize http://www.kidsrights.org/childrenspeaceprize.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1005146/Childrens_Peace_Prize_2019.jpg 
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1005148/Childrens_Peace_Prize_2019.jpg 
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1005152/KidsRights_Logo.jpg 

Source: KidsRights
Translations

Japanese