Before I began working for children's rights, I constantly found myself struggling with a ‘why’.
Why are some children born to work at the cost of their freedom and childhood?
Why do the economic conditions of parents determine a child’s education and future?
Why are we employing children of the poor to make clothes and toys for children of the better-off?
My articles published in the 1980s helped raise critical questions on child labour, trafficking of children, sexual exploitation, the lack of education, and more.
This compilation of articles
has contributed towards laying
The theoretical foundation catalysed a mass movement for children's rights. Over the past
36 years, this movement has led
to the establishment of institutions
of governance, national and transnational policies for the protection of children, and the mainstreaming of child rights on the global development agenda.
As you have picked up this book, I sincerely hope you will exercise your right to ask questions and your willingness to help the children of the world.
—Kailash Satyarthi
“Once, a fire broke out in the forest.
All the birds and beasts, including the lion, the King of the Jungle, started running for their lives. In the midst of the chaos, the lion caught sight of a hummingbird flying towards the fire.
Shocked, the lion asked, “What are you trying to do?”
The hummingbird, indicating its beak, said, “I am carrying a drop of water to extinguish the fire.”
The lion was amused. It said, "How can you douse a fire with just a drop?
But the hummingbird was unshaken. It said: “I am doing my bit.”
During my Nobel acceptance speech, when I lost some papers, I was reminded of a story I then recounted to the audience.
Join me in my movement for children and do your bit, like the little, brave hummingbird.
—Kailash Satyarthi