The World’s Children’s Prize (WCP) ceremony, to be held on Sunday at the Artscape Theatre, will tell the story of the 2015 award ceremony in Sweden and South Africa’s participation.
A group of child rights ambassadors and musicians from Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain performed at the ceremony with children from all over the world before HM Queen Silvia of Sweden. (Her Majesty was the first WCP patron in 2000.)
Children in South Africa formed part of the decision to elect the champion of garbage dump children as Child Rights Hero of the Year.
In a unique global vote, almost 2 million children chose Phymean Noun, from Cambodia, to be the Child Rights Hero of the Year and recipient of the World’s Children’s Prize 2015, often called the “Children’s Nobel Prize” by the media internationally.
Javier Stauring, from the US, and Kailash Satyarthi, from India, were honorary award laureates. The laureates were honoured at a ceremony at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Sweden, which is led by children from around 10 different countries, with help from Queen Silvia. Read more about the prize laureates at www.worlds childrensprize.org
The prize money, $100 000 (R1.58m), will be used in the laureates’ work and has in previous years helped improve the lives of tens of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable children.
The 2014 laureate, Malala Yousafzai, used her prize money to rebuild schools in Gaza. Previous laureates include child rights heroes Graça Machel and Nelson Mandela, Ann Skelton, Hector Pieterson and Nkosi Johnson (both posthumously).
Phymean is being honoured for her fight to give education and a better life to children living in extreme poverty on the rubbish dumps of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As a child, she was kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge, who threatened to kill her family. At times, the family had to hide in a hole in the ground.
When the dictatorship fell, Phymean fought to get an education and a good job. But when she saw how hard life was for the children on Phnom Penh’s rubbish dumps, she gave up her career and used her own money to build her first school for the children.
The World’s Children’s Prize programme educates and empowers children to stand up for equality, the rights of the child and democracy. The majority of the 38 million children who have participated since 2000 are poor and vulnerable. They have learnt for the first time that they have rights, and that they can make their voices heard.
The WCP programme concludes with a unique Global Vote. Children organise election days in their schools and vote for their heroes.
The three candidates are selected by a global Child Jury, the members of which are experts on the rights of the child through their own life experiences, as child soldiers, debt slaves and more.
Five Nobel Prize laureates have rallied behind the World’s Children’s Prize as patrons as well as global legends Aung San Suu Kyi and Xanana Gusmão. The patrons also include Queen Silvia, Machel and Desmond Tutu, as well as Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.
South African patrons also include Struggle veteran Ahmed Kathrada, Independent Media executive chairman Dr Iqbal Survé and singer Vusi “The Voice” Mahlasela.
The WCP programme is supported by more than 67 000 schools in 113 countries and by over 700 organisations, departments of education and institutions. Since its launch, half-a-million teachers have been trained to work with the rights of the child and democracy in schools.
The World’s Children’s Prize Foundation is a non-profit organisation. Its work is funded by sources including the Swedish Postcode Lottery, the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (Sida), HM Queen Silvia’s Care About the Children Foundation, the Survé Family Foundation, eWork, Giving Wings, Futura Foundations and Sparbanksstiftelsen Rekarne.
l Contact Marlene Winberg at marlene.winberg@worldschildrens prize.org or call 083 392 5153. The ceremony begins at 6.30pm Limited tickets at door. There is no charge for tickets. For more information, visit www.worldschildrensprize.org/ media-room