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

When democracy becomes a performance: The Tibetan exile experience

By Tseten Lhundup*  I was born in Bylakuppe, one of the largest Tibetan settlements in southern India. From childhood, I grew up in simple barracks, along muddy roads, and in fields with limited resources. Over the years, I have watched our democratic system slowly erode. Observing the recent budget session of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, these “democratic procedures” appear grand and orderly on the surface, yet in reality they amount to little more than empty formalities. The parliamentarians seem largely disconnected from the everyday struggles faced by ordinary exiled Tibetans like us.

Study links sanctions to 500,000 deaths annually leading to rise in global backlash

By Bharat Dogra  International opinion is increasingly turning against the expanding burden of sanctions imposed on a growing number of countries. These measures are contributing to humanitarian crises, intensifying domestic discord, and heightening international tensions, thereby increasing the risks of conflicts and wars. 

Dhurandhar: The Revenge — Blurring the line between fiction and political narrative

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan*  "Dhurandhar: The Revenge" does not wait to be remembered; it arrives almost on the heels of its predecessor, released on March 19, 2026, just months after the first film’s December 2025 debut. The speed of its arrival feels less like creative urgency and more like calculated timing—cinema responding not to storytelling rhythm but to the emotional climate of its audience. Director Aditya Dhar, along with actor Yami Gautam, appears acutely aware of this moment and how to harness it.

BJP accounts for 99% of political donations in Gujarat: Corporate giants dominate

By Jag Jivan   An analysis of the official data on donations received by national parties from Gujarat during the Financial Year 2024-25 reveals a staggering concentration of funding, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accounting for nearly the entirety of the contributions. The data, compiled in a document titled "National Parties donations received from Gujarat during FY-2024-25," lists thousands of transactions, painting a detailed picture of the financial backing for political parties from one of India’s most industrially significant states.

Alarming decline in India's repair culture threatens circular economy goals: Study

By Jag Jivan  A comprehensive new study by environmental research and advocacy organisation Toxics Link has painted a worrying picture of India's fading repair culture, warning that the trend towards replacement over repair is accelerating the country's already critical e-waste crisis.

Beyond the island: Top mythologist reorients the geography of the Ramayana

By Jag Jivan   In a compelling new analysis that challenges conventional geographical assumptions about the ancient epic, writer and mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik has traced the roots of the Ramayana to the forests and river systems of Central and Eastern India, rather than the peninsular south or the modern island nation of Sri Lanka.

Captains extraordinaire: Ranking cricket’s most influential skippers

By Harsh Thakor*  Ranking the greatest cricket captains is a subjective exercise, often sparking passionate debate among fans. The following list is not merely a tally of wins and losses; it is an assessment of leadership’s deeper impact. My criteria fuse a captain’s playing record with their tactical skill, placing the highest consideration on their ability to reshape a team’s fortunes and inspire those around them. A captain who inherited a dominant empire is judged differently from one who resurrected a nation’s cricket from the doldrums. With that in mind, here is my perspective on the finest leaders the game has ever seen.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

‘No merit’ in Chakraborty’s claims: Personal ethics talk sans details raises questions

By Jag Jivan  A recent opinion piece published in The Quint by Subhash Chandra Garg has raised questions over the circumstances surrounding the resignation of Atanu Chakraborty from HDFC Bank , with Garg stating that the exit “raises doubts about his own ‘ethics’.” Garg, currently Chief Policy Advisor at Subhanjali and former Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, writes that the Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) appears to find no substance in Chakraborty’s claims, noting, “It is clear the RBI sees no merit in Atanu Chakraborty’s wild and vague assertions.”