Kailash Satyarthi - A beacon of hope of billion children!

- Paroma Bhattacharya

11th January marks the birth anniversary of Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and every year it is celebrated as ‘Surakshit Bachpan Diwas’ in recognition of Satyarthi's dedication towards the rights of children. He is one of the tallest leaders and the loudest voice in the global fight against exploitation of children. Not caring even once about the life threatening attacks that he has survived, Mr. Satyarthi has personally rescued tens of thousands of children from the scourge of slavery. His fearless and unrelenting policy advocacy efforts towards elimination of violence against children have resulted in path-breaking legislations globally. He won the Nobel Peace Prize for his long struggle against child labour, child trafficking and child slavery. On his birthday today, sharing some of the important issues that he raised in the past year. 

Fair Share To End Child Labour

Marking the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, amid fears of rise in child labour due to social and economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, Kailash Satyarthi along with other Nobel Laureates, business leaders, UN agencies and other world leaders joined hands to launch the Fair Share to End Child Labour Campaign. The campaign which calls for fair share of resources, policies and social protection for children and demanded the creation of a Global Social Protection Mechanisms with a fair share of direct benefits for children in the poorest communities. This campaign has been supported by UN Secretary General Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Guy Ryder, Director-General International Labour Organization, Dr. Tedros Director General World Health Organisation, Gabriela Ramos, Assistance Director General of UNESCO Stefan Löfven, the erstwhile Prime Minister of Sweden, Martin Chungong, Secretary General, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Jeffrey Sachs, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The campaign is creating the largest global coalition to drive urgent and collective action to counter the first increase in child labour in two decades, especially in Africa which is home to more than half of the world’s child labour. Recently, the UN Secretary General announced the Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection, in support of efforts to end this crisis.

Advocating Right To Health As A Constitutional Right

The demand of Right to Healthcare as a fundamental right in India- Witnessing the aftermath of the deadly second wave of COVID-19 in India and across the globe, Kailash Satyarthi urged the Government of India to make Right to Healthcare a fundamental right and make adequate budgetary allocations in this regard. Later this demand was supported by several parliamentarians and Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Shri Ashok Gehlot also demanded the center to make Right to health as part of fundamental right of the constitution.

Immediate Help To Orphans

The COVID-19's second wave saw many children becoming orphans and losing their parents, Kailash Satyarthi was the first one to highlight the increasing number of orphaned children in the country due to COVID-19. This resulted in his organisation introducing a 24 hr helpline number for providing immediate relief to the children and families including legal and mental support to children and their guardians.Later many state governments introduced schemes related to orphan children.

Appointed as UN SDG Advocate

As recognition of Kailash Satyarthi’s efforts and in support of his campaign, António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, appointed Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi as the Sustainable Development Goals Advocate. The  role that is integral to advancing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The appointment came during a critical year, the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, when the world tragically saw the first rise in child labour in two decades.