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UAE girl is finalist for international peace prize

Amsterdam - Kehkashan Basu founded her own organization to protect the environment

16-year-old Kehkashan Basu from the United Arab Emirates is one of three finalists for the International Children's Peace Prize 2016, according to International children's rights organisation KidsRights. 12-year-old Divina Maloum from Cameroon and 18-year-old Muzoon Allmelehan from Syria are the other two finalists. The finalists were chosen from 120 international entries.
Kehkashan Basu began campaigning to protect the environment at an early age. At the age of just eight, she organised an awareness-raising campaign for the recycling of waste in her neighbourhood in Dubai. In 2012, she founded her own organisation, Green Hope, which runs waste-collection, beach-cleaning and awareness-raising campaigns. Through a series of campaigns and lectures, she has demonstrated to thousands of school and university students how important it is to care properly for the environment. Kehkashan has addressed various international conferences and Green Hope is now active in ten countries with more than 1,000 young volunteers. Kehkashan was nominated by her father.
According to the Expert Committee that picked the finalists, all three have improved the rights and position of children in unique and tangible ways. Every year, the young prize-winner gains an international platform to share his or her message with hundreds of millions of people worldwide. In line with tradition, the Children's Peace Prize will be awarded by a Nobel Peace Laureate. This year, Nobel Peace Prize winner of 2006 Muhammad Yunus will present the prize in the Hall of Knights (Ridderzaal) in the international city of peace and justice The Hague on 2 December, in the presence of the world press and numerous prominent guests.
Each year the International Children's Peace Prize is presented by a Nobel Peace Laureate. The winner receives the statuette 'Nkosi', which portrays a child setting the world in motion, as well as a study grant and a worldwide platform to promote his or her ideals and causes for the benefit of children's rights. Furthermore, KidsRights invests the sum of Dh3,93,079 in projects in the winner's home country that are closely connected to his or her area of work.
The International Children's Peace Prize is awarded annually to a child who fights courageously for children's rights. The Prize was founded by Mr. Marc Dullaert, the founder and chair of the KidsRights Foundation. It was launched in 2005 during the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev. During the nomination process, the Expert Committee of the prize receives nominations from countries all over the world.
KidsRights is an international non-governmental organization that promotes the well-being of very vulnerable children across the world and advocates the realisation of their rights. KidsRights strives for a world where all children have access to their rights and are enabled to realise the great potential they carry within them.