From Iqbal Masih to Malala: 9 child activists you should know about

Many youngsters, time and again, have spoken out against climate change, child slavery or nuclear war
DW | June 29, 2022

GERMANY:

From child labour activist, Iqbal Masih to the youngest Nobel Prize Laureate, Malala Yousafzai, many youngsters, time and again, have spoken out against climate change, child slavery or nuclear war. Whether the adults who wield power are willing to listen and act is another matter.

Here are some young activists you should know about:

Iqbal Masih

Pakistani Iqbal Masih became a debt slave in a carpet factory aged 5. Set free when he was 10, he helped other child slaves escape, becoming a symbol of struggle against child labor. He was killed aged 12. H

Malala Yousafzai

At 17, Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Prize laureate for her humanitarian efforts. She made global headlines after bein

Greta Thunberg

She is probably the most famous face of present-day environmentalism: Greta Thunberg's solitary Friday strikes outside the Swedish parliament in 2018 gave birth to a global move

Bana el Abed

"I need peace": Those three words made up Bana el Abe

Severn Cullis-Suzuki

Urging leaders to change their ways at the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, the 12-year-old Canadian Severn Cullis-Suzuki became known as "the

Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez

Xiuhtezcatl (pronounced "Shoe-Tez-Caht") Roske-Martinez is a US-based climate change activist and youth director of Earth Guardians. By the time he was 15, he had addressed the U

Melati and Isabel Wijsen

Melati and Isabel Wijsen founded "Bye Bye Plastic Bags" in their native Bali, Indonesia in 2013, after being inspired by lessons on famous activists at school. Aged 10 and 12 then, their initiative aims to ban single-use plastic bags from bea

Zambian Thandiwe Chama

Zambian Thandiwe Chama was 8 years old when her school was forced to close because many teachers succumbed to HIV/AIDS. She rallied 60 other children to march to another school, to claim their right to education and ask to be admitted there. All were

Nkosi Johnson

Born HIV-positive, Nkosi Johnson was refused admission to a public school in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1997. He recounted this as keynote speaker at the International AIDS Confer

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.

Load Next Story

Join Us

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or derived from. Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyrighted © 2024 The Express Tribune.

FOLLOW US