Today, in every wave of every ocean, I see our children playing and dancing. Today, in every plant, tree, and mountain, I see our children growing in freedom.
— Kailash Satyarthi
World's children cannot wait any longer. While international community debates and issues recommendations, statements and fine speeches, world's children - marginalised, socially excluded, poor and vulnerable - continue to suffer.
I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom.
More than 30 years ago, when I had embarked upon the fight against child labour, it was not even considered an issue worth any discussion. It was accepted as a way of life in India, much like it was in other countries. Today, no country or business or society can throw this issue away.
The first 'D' is to dream: dream big - not for yourself, but for the country and for the world. The second 'D' is to discover: discover your full potential and the opportunities that surround you; and the third 'D' is to do. 'Do' means to act on your dreams and make best use of the opportunities you have discovered.
Learning from the experiences of our ancestors, let us together create knowledge for all that benefits all.
I call for a march from exploitation to education, from poverty to shared prosperity, a march from slavery to liberty, and a march from violence to peace.
Let us unite the world through the compassion for our children.
The fight against child slavery is the fight against traditional mindset, policy deficit, and lack of accountability and urgency for children across the globe.
Childhood means simplicity. Look at the world with the child's eye - it is very beautiful.
Economic growth and human development need to go hand in hand. Human values need to be advocated vigorously.
If you keep on buying things made by child slaves in such conditions, you are equally responsible for the perpetration of slavery.
There is a triangular relationship between poverty, child labour and illiteracy who have a cause and consequence relationship. We will have to break this vicious circle.
Child slavery is a crime against humanity. Humanity itself is at stake here. A lot of work still remains, but I will see the end of child labor in my lifetime.
Today it is time for every child to have a right to life, right to freedom, right to health, right to education, safety, the right to dignity, right to equality, and right to peace.
Elimination of child labour and access to education are like two sides of one coin. One cannot be achieved without the other.
We as the governments, workers, employers and civil society must declare a war on child labour. This war cannot be won without strong, committed, coherent, and well-resourced worldwide movement. Equally needed is a genuine and active coordination between intergovernmental agencies at the highest level.
We still have a soft approach on the perpetrators of crimes like worst forms of child labour.
The power of youth is the common wealth for the entire world. The faces of young people are the faces of our past, our present and our future. No segment in the society can match with the power, idealism, enthusiasm and courage of the young people.
I have come here only to share the voices and dreams of our children - because they are all our children.
Today, I see thousands of Mahatma Gandhis, Martin Luther Kings, and Nelson Mandelas marching forward and calling on us. The boys and girls have joined. I have joined in. We ask you to join, too.
As the anti-slavery community, we must together ensure that this attention is transferred into concrete action and results.
Child labor perpetuates poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, population growth, and other social problems.
I dream for a world which is free of child labour, a world in which every child goes to school. A world in which every child gets his rights.
I never go to temples, but when I see a child, I see God in them.
I have been very strongly advocating that poverty must not be used as an excuse to continue child labour. It perpetuates poverty. If children are deprived of education, they remain poor.
I am really honoured, but if the prize had gone to Mahatma Gandhi before me, I would have been more honoured.
If not now, then when? If not you, then who? If we are able to answer these fundamental questions, then perhaps we can wipe away the blot of human slavery.
Let us democratise knowledge. Let us universalise justice. Together, let us globalise compassion!
At about an age when most children start full time schooling, hundreds of thousands of their contemporaries start a lifetime of drudgery in factories and fields, working 12-16 hours daily.
Every child matters. If we fail our children, we are bound to fail our present, our future, faith, cultures, and civilisations as well.
From my own experience, I want to say that you should follow your heart, and the mind will follow you. Believe in yourself, and you will create miracles.
The biggest challenge or biggest crisis knocking on the doors of humankind is fear and intolerance.
I am representing here - the sound of silence. The cry of innocence. And, the face of invisibility. I represent millions of those children who are left behind, and that's why I have kept an empty chair here as a reminder.
Every single minute matters, every single child matters, every single childhood matters.
Denial of childhood and denial of freedom are the biggest sins which humankind has been committing and perpetuating for ages.
For me, peace is a fundamental human right of every child; it is inevitable and divine.
India may be a land of over a 100 problems, but it is also a place for a billion solutions.
I am positive that I would see the end of child labour around the world in my lifetime, as the poorest of the poor have realised that education is a tool that can empower them.
Each time I free a child, I feel it is something closer to God.
I am thankful to the Nobel committee for recognising the plight of millions of children who are suffering in this modern age.
