Betty Makoni of Zimbabwe, girls’ right activist has been awarded the annual World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child yesterday. While India’s Inderjit Khurana and Myanmar’s Cynthia Maung collectively became the recipient of an honorary award. The 1 million kronor (US$145,000) grant honors efforts to better the lives of children worldwide and would be split into three parts.
Betty Makoni:
She is the founder of the Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe. After being abused as a child, Betty began to fight to give girls the courage to demand their rights. She supports those who are exposed to abuse and protects others from assault, forced marriage, trafficking and sexual abuse.
Inderjit Khurana:
She initiated the Ruchika organization that runs schools and nurseries for poor children in India and two phone help lines for 21 years, helping the poorest, most vulnerable children who live and work on station platforms.
Cynthia Maung:
She has fought for the health and education of hundreds of thousands of refugee children for 20 years, both under the military dictatorship in Burma and in refugee camps in Thailand.
The awards
The awards were set up in 1999 by the Swedish Children’s World Association to recognize the outstanding contributions of those who defend youth rights.
Sweden’s Queen Silvia will host an awards ceremony for the winners at Gripsholm’s castle outside Stockholm on Monday.
Last year’s prize went to the Rwandan orphans’ organization, The Association of Orphan Heads of Households, the Canadian activist Craig Kielburger and the Dalai Lama’s sister, Jetsun Pema.
