By Xuefei Chen Axelsson

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 8(Greenpost) —Three Child Rights Heroes who are candidates for the Swedish Child Rights award The World’s Children’s Prize (WCP) has been announced recently. Millions of children participate in a Global Vote and choose the recipient of the prize, often called the “Children’s Nobel Prize” by media around the world. 

The nominees are:

• Spès Nihangaza, Burundi, for her 25-year fight for orphaned children who have been severely affected by the AIDS epidemic and a brutal civil war.
• Ashok Dyalchand, India, who has been campaigning against child marriage and fighting for girls’ rights for 40 years.
• Guylande Mésadieu, Haiti, who has been fighting for 20 years for children who have been forced into slavery, children in prison and children on the street.

The candidates have been selected by a jury of children from 15 different countries.
Since its launch in 2000, some 42 million children have participated in the World’s Children’s Prize Program, which is the world’s largest annual rights and democracy education initiative for children. Patrons of the World’s Children’s Prize include Malala Youzafsai, the late Nelson Mandela, Sweden’s Queen Silvia and Sweden’s Prime Minister and Minister for Children.

Children from around the world, here in Cambodia and Sweden, participate in a Global Vote to decide who receives the World’s Children’s Prize.

Supporting vulnerable children
The World’s Children’s Prize Program educates and empowers children to become changemakers who stand up for human fellowship, the equal value of all people, the rights of the child, democracy and sustainable development. The majority of the children involved in the program live in fragile states and many  discover for the first time that they have rights and are able to make their voices heard.Recipients honoured in Sweden
Tributes will be paid to all three Child Rights Heroes at a ceremony in May 2019 at Gripsholm Castle in Mariefred, Sweden. The children will be assisted by Sweden’s Queen Silvia in presenting the awards. The prize money, which totals SEK 700,000, is used to support the Child Rights Heroes’ work and since the start in 2000 it has helped improve the lives of tens of thousands of the world’s most vulnerable children.

Global patrons
Patrons of the World’s Children’s Prize include Malala Youzafsai, the late Nelson Mandela, Sweden’s Queen Silvia, Graça Machel, Desmond Tutu and Sweden’s Prime Minister and Minister for Children.
The WCP Program is supported by 70,000 schools in 116 countries, as well as the Swedish Ministry of Education and 778 organisations. Since the program’s launch, half a million teachers have been trained to enable them to work with children’s rights, democracy and sustainable development in schools.

The World’s Children’s Prize Foundation (WCPF) is supported by a number of organisations, including the Swedish Postcode Lottery, Sida, Forum Syd, Julia & Hans Rausing Trust, H.M. Queen Silvia’s Care About the Children Foundation and the Survé Family Foundation.