Brasília, October 9, 2013 – ‘Be ambitious, believe in that dream that together we can change this reality’ stated Kalaish Satyarthi, creator of the Global March Against Child Labour, an Indian non-governmental organization, for more than 40 young people on this Wednesday morning. On the second day of the III Global Conference on Child Labour, the Indian activist, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, told the teenagers how he started in militancy and managed to rescue more than 60,000 child victims of labour exploitation.
Teenagers between 15 and 17 years old were invited to maximize media coverage of the Conference as part of an educational project facilitated by Non -governmental Organization Viração, with support from the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Teens from 23 Brazilian states listened carefully to Satyarthi’s advice, for whom child labour stems from the traditional disregard for the children, who are not seen as individuals by society. ‘Our biggest challenge is to change the mindset’, explained the specialist.
The activist pointed out the importance of not consuming products from child labour and highlighted the use of social media to expand the mobilization of the theme when the teenagers inquired how they could contribute to eradicate child labour on a daily basis.
They also learned that in this struggle it is essential to lose the shyness and to have the courage to question reality, ‘we must believe in ourselves. I was shy, did not like to speak in public and conquered my courage when at five, I saw a child working as a shoeshiner in front of my school.’
Satyarthi participou também na terça-feira (8) da semi plenária sobre Trabalho Infantil na Agricultura e da sessão plenária de abertura sobre “A erradicação Sustentável do Trabalho Infantil: um desafio global’, junto à ministra do Ministério do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate à Fome (MDS), Tereza Campello.
On Tuesday (8), Satyarthi took part in the semi-plenary session about Child Labour in Agriculture and also participated in the opening plenary session about Sustainable Eradication of Child Labour: a Global Challenge, beside the Brazilian minister of Social Development and Fight against Hunger, Tereza Campello.
