Campaigning for world leaders to act on climate change since she was 15 years old.
Bana Al Abed was born in Syria in 2009. When she was 2 years old, people in her country started protesting to remove the government. They felt that leaders did not give people enough freedom. In response, the government used violence in attempts to stop the protests and a civil war broke out.
Since 2011, the war continued to escalate and has turned into one of the worst crises in the world today. Bana experienced the effects of this horrible war first-hand. She wanted to capture the attention of people in other countries to tell them what was happening and urge them to help. So she asked her mother to help her set up a Twitter account to document their experiences.
Bana showed people how her family was running low on food and water, eating just macaroni and rice, and feeling constantly hungry. She showed videos of the bombs being dropped and people running around in fright. And eventually she recorded when her family lost their home in an air strike. This led them to join thousands of residents who boarded green buses and left the city of Aleppo to leave Syria behind in search of a safer life in Turkey.
Bana considered herself one of the lucky people, to escape the war and not lose any of her family. But knowing there were people in Syria still living what Bana had gone through left her feeling uneasy. Bana wanted to continue spreading the word. In addition to her Twitter account, she wrote two books about her experiences, called ‘Dear World: My Story of War, My Plea for Peace’ and ‘My Name Is Bana’.
She has also made speeches to important people around the world on the need to educate refugees and children in Syria. Her biggest speech to date was to 1,500 people, including important politicians in Dubai. Bana dreams of a world in which all children can live in peace and have the right to education. She says, ‘I hope [to] make the world do something for the children and people of Syria and bring peace to children all over the world who are living in war.’
Campaigning for access to clean water for Canada’s indigenous communities since she was 8 years old.
Challenging the representation of girls and women in society since she was 11 years old.
Running a marathon in 10 days to raise money for homeless people when he was 7 years old.
Fundraising for the farmers whose incomes have been affected by drought in Australia since he was 11 years old.
Inspiring girls to learn about and aspire to work in science and technology subjects since she was 16 years old.
Creating and growing a bank that helps children save money by recycling since he was 12 years old.
Designing technology to supply electricity and water without emitting greenhouse gases since he was 15 years old.
Campaigning for the banning of plastic bags in Bali since they were 10 and 12 years old.
Designing a solar powered ironing cart to reduce charcoal burning in India since she was 12 years old.
Petitioning for schools to give children reusable water bottles since he was 7 years old.
Campaigning for people and businesses to stop using single-use plastics since they were 10 and 12 years old.
Set up organisations supporting cancer patients, people in poverty, and promoting golf in young black girls, since she was 10 years old.
Saving the lives of hundreds of hedgehogs in the UK since they were 9 years old.
Campaigning to promote proper battery disposal and recycling since he was 10 years old.
Campaigning for people and businesses to stop using single-use plastics since they were 10 and 12 years old.
The world’s youngest sustainability advocate – working to make the world a better place since she was 3 years old.
Solving the problem of water contamination using science and technology since she was 11 years old.
