Skip to main content

Kailash Satyarthi, Dalai Lama, world leaders to 'discuss' child rights amidst Covid-19

By 
A Representative
The Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF) has announced holding of the Fair Share for Children Summit on September 9-10 with the participation of several top world leaders, including the Dalai Lama, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, the World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, musician and philanthropist Ricky Martin, International Labour Organization director-general Guy Ryder, India’s Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, Nobel laureates and youth leaders.
To be held as global virtual summit, it proposes to pledge to work together to demand fair share for the world’s most marginalised children during and beyond Covid-19. In a statement, KSCF said, the Fair Share for Children Summit will particularly focus on galvanising governments to ensure that all of the world’s children are able to enjoy their right to education, safety and protection.
“Trillions have been committed by wealthy governments to protect jobs and economies during Covid-19. However, with just US$1 trillion, 70 million lives could be saved”, the KSFC, founded by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, said, adding, “The pandemic has exposed and exacerbated the deep inequalities faced by the poorest families, who are the least equipped to protect themselves in times of global crisis.”
It added, “However, despite unprecedented government spending to protect national interests and the global economy, little has been allocated to protect the 1 in 5 children who live on $2 per day or less. Without urgent action now, we risk losing an entire generation.”
Nobel Peace laureates to participate in the global virtual summit include Kailash Satyarthi (2014), Leymah Gbowee (2011), Tawakkol Karman (2011), Muhammad Yunus (2006), and Jody Williams (1997), the KSCF statement said, adding, the purpose to hold it to build on a joint statement released in May 2020, signed by 88 Nobel laureates and world leaders for raising awareness on the situation faced by children and families around the world due to Covid-19 and its resulting humanitarian and economic impact.
The statement warned, “Covid-19 could turn the clock back a decade or more on child labour, education, and health for hundreds of millions of children, if governments allow it. By acting now, they could prevent an impending child rights disaster. Inaction will result in millions of children being forced out of school and into child labour by Covid-19 as their families struggle to survive.”
During the summit, the results of a new analysis of the monies so far committed to the world’s most marginalised children will be announced, it announced, adding, the event will be live streamed on YouTube and Facebook, while additional information including registration and viewing details would be uploaded on www.laureatesandleaders.org.

Comments

TRENDING

Planning failures? Mysuru’s traditional water networks decline as city expands

By Prajna Kumaraswamy, Mansee Bal Bhargava   The tropical land–water-scape of India shapes every settlement through lakes, ponds, wetlands, and rivers. Mysuru (Mysore) is a city profoundly shaped by both natural and humanly constructed water systems. For generations, it has carried a collective identity tied to the seasonal rhythms of the monsoon, the life-giving presence of the Cauvery and Kabini rivers , and the intricate network of lakes and ponds that dot the cityscape. Water transcends being merely a resource; it is part of collective memory, embedded in place names, agricultural heritage, and the very land beneath our feet. In an era of rapid urbanization and climate-induced land–water transformations, understanding this profound relationship with the land–water-scape is strategic for sustainability, resilience, and even survival.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

If Maoist violence is illegitimate, how is Hindutva, state violence justified? Can right-wing wash off its sins?

By Swami Agnivesh* and Sandeep Pandey** There was major police action against Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varvara Rao, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira on 28 August, 2018. Before this police arrested Professor Shoma Sen, Adocate Sudhir Gadling, Sudhir Dhawle, Mahesh Raut and Rona Wilson on 6 June. Even before this Dr. Binayak Sen, Soni Sori, Ajay TG, Professor GN Saibaba and Prashant Rahi have been arrested and all these activists have been accused of having links with Maoists.