Two Delhi teens—17-year-old Vihaan Agarwal and his 14-year-old brother Nav won the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize in 2021 for their untiring efforts to fight pollution in Delhi. To tackle air pollution, the Delhi Government had taken some notable measures including putting on hold all construction and demolition activities and shutting down all educational institutions for the time being. Over 370 water sprinkler tanks have also been stationed at multiple points in the capital and a special task force of traffic police has been constituted to monitor and ease traffic congestion. The Supreme Court on its part has taken serious note of the pollution emergency in Delhi and adjoining areas. 

 On the eve of India’s National Children’s Day, during a grand ceremony held in the historic Hall of Knights in The Hague, Netherlands, Kailash Satyarthi, the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, presented the International Children’s Peace Prize, the Nkosi statuette, a study and care grant for their education and a project fund of Euro 100,000  to the boys. Half of the project fund will go to the winner’s theme, and the other half will be invested by KidsRights in the projects of other young changemakers fighting for children’s rights.

Lauding their efforts, Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi said, “Children have always shown the way for the world. In fact, the courage and bravery of children worldwide continues to have a great impact on tackling some of the most urgent global issues. I am happy that teens such as Vihaan and Nav have taken up the issue of pollution. The recent directions by the Supreme Court is testimony that the problem of pollution needs to be taken seriously.” After receiving the prestigious award, Nav and Vihaan Agarwal, said, “Air pollution is one of the most important issues of our time for children. It affects us directly, people in our community and young people across the world. What started from our home has turned into something much bigger and it shows what we can achieve when we take action. We would like to encourage all young people to start their own initiatives no matter how small they seem. By winning the International Children’s Peace Prize we hope that other cities will support us in our goal of a zero waste India!”

Delhi earned the dubious distinction of becoming the world’s most polluted city for three years in a row in 2020. Suffering from asthma, Vihaan was one of those thousands of children who suffered a lot due to Delhi’s toxic air. Vihaan and Nav’s message on winning the International Children’s Peace Prize detailing their fight against pollution reached 3573 billion people.

Vihaan and Lav’s Fight Against Pollution 

The infamous Ghazipur landfill collapse shook Vihaan and Nav to the core. They created ‘One Step Greener’—an initiative which began segregating rubbish and organizing waste pickup drives. What started with just 15 homes, ‘One Step Greener’ is now a city-wide operation collecting rubbish from more than 1000 households, schools and offices, and has recycled 173,630 kg of waste. Awareness materials they created are now used in over 100 schools in Delhi and they have given presentations to over 45,000 people on waste management. ‘One Step Greener’ now has five full-time employees and 11 dedicated young volunteers working towards the goal of a ‘Zero Waste India’.

Growing Line of Changemakers

Vihaan and Lav join an impressive and growing line of young global changemakers. Last year’s (2020) International Children’s Peace Prize winner Sadat Rahman was recognized for his involvement in setting up his mobile app Cyber Teens to stop cyberbullying. He had initially started his work from one area of Bangladesh and then expanded to other areas after winning the prize in close collaboration with the government and the police. Today, all schools in Bangladesh use the app. 

Increased Impact

Marc Dullaert, Founder and Chair of the KidsRights Foundation, feels that the impact of the International Children’s Peace Prize has increased in recent years. “We started giving this award based on our belief that children can change the world. The winners, but also many of the other nominees, show every year how great their impact is. It is hopeful to see that more and more policymakers are willing to listen to these changemakers. But it is far from enough: much more action is needed to guarantee the rights of children worldwide. For example, on the topic of climate change, a looming disaster that forms an extremely high risk for no less than one billion children.”#

Article source: anil@india4children.com; https://www.kidsrights.org/