Campaigning for world leaders to act on climate change since she was 15 years old.
One normal April morning, 12-year-old Craig Kielburger picked up the newspaper from the breakfast table and flicked through to find the comic section. But this day, a headline, ‘Battled child labour, boy 12, killed,’ caught his attention. Craig read on. He learnt of the story of Iqbal Masih, who died fighting for kids to be freed from child labour.
Craig was shocked. He sat at a breakfast table in Canada, where he and his family lived in safety, with access to medical care, food and a nice house, whilst other children were working long hours in factories with poor working conditions. Craig wanted to do something about this so that no others would suffer the same fate as Iqbal.
So he picked up the phone and called as many anti-child labour organisations as he could find, asking how he could help. They told Craig he was only a child and a child could not make a difference. Craig decided to prove them wrong. He started a movement for young people to fight child labour. And 24 years later, the WE movement he started has over four million supporters.
Craig found a cause he cared about and fought to create change. He says, ‘Change starts within each one of us.’ These are Craig’s three tips for young people taking on child labour:
Campaigning for access to clean water for Canada’s indigenous communities since she was 8 years old.
Raising awareness of the effects of the Syrian civil war and calling for peace since she was 6 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.
