No child creates war, children are victims: Kailash Satyarthi

Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi is confident that he can see the end of child slavery in his lifetime. The UAE is a success story as far as eradication of child labour is concerned, he says. His Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation conveys that not just child slavery and prostitution, but even denial of education is violence.

Kailash Satyarthi shared the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 with Malala Yousafzai for his "struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education." Dressed in a crisp white kurta, the nobel laureate sat down for a conversation with KT after a brunch session at The Oberoi hotel in Dubai. He spoke about eradicating child slavery globally, expanding his organisation in the UAE and about the disturbing humanity refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe.
The newfound celebrity status may not affect him much, but the Nobel Prize has given him more power to speed up his mission of eradicating child labour during his lifetime, said the 61-year-old global icon.
What would you say of the actions of groups like Daesh, who make kids fight for a cause they don't comprehend? And, many children are sucked up by the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Europe....
No child has ever created a war, but they are the victims of any insurgency. The growing violence against children and using children for violence are serious issues; almost two million children are affected in Syria. Almost two hundred thousand children dropped out of school. We see a similar pattern in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan and Nigeria. It shows how, in different parts of the world, violence is impacting education and children. Children are forced to become refugees and they are also vulnerable to many kinds of abuse. It is not their fault, children are just victims. They are not the culprits responsible for this situation. More global awareness, more sense of responsibility towards children, attention towards their health have to get priority. I have been talking about it at international communities, with leaders, presidents and prime ministers. I have stressed the fact that all these children are our children, we should not discriminate by saying that he is Syrian or Afghani or Pakistani or Nigerian. The treatment we give our children is the most effective yardstick of human growth. It is a collective moral responsibility to protect children.
There are constant demands for more funds to deal with children's issues. Do you feel funding is an issue?
There is a serious challenge about funding with $22 billion required to educate children annually. It's evidence that children are still not our priority. If the world decides not to fight for five days, we will not have to spend money on weapons on those five days. And that money is enough to educate children. My anger and my fight are for this purpose. I want children to become priority. We cannot progress by not caring for our children. We have to create a child-centric economy and society.
You have succeeded in raising awareness, but realistically, how far away are we from eradicating child abuse and child labour?
I am confident that I will see the end of child slavery in my lifetime. My confidence is not based on sheer optimism or emotion. My training as an engineer gives me the vision to calculate certain things and to draw some sort of a timeline for a clearer mapping of things. Why I say this is because when I started some 35-36 years ago, there were no research or media reports. India did not have any law. Most of the countries did not have any laws on child's rights. People thought that a child working is a part of life.
For centuries, women were considered second-grade citizens. Nobody understood that women are as dignified or as good as a man or maybe even better. Slowly we saw the progress. Maybe 17 years ago child labourers numbered 260 million officially. That has decreased to 168 million. The first slot was much more difficult because there were no laws or awareness. But now things have changed, we can make a speedy recovery. The number of 'out of school' children has seen a drop from 138 million to 59 million. Infant mortality rate has reduced by more than half. And education is now being considered not only for employment but also for empowerment.
Would you consider expanding your work from Dubai against child labour/abuse?
We are looking for a good partnership with the government, civil society and the business sector because our fight is global. The region should become a leading partner not only in terms of resources; they should become a partner in policies and bring about sustainable changes. If we get support we will start a few activities in this part of the world, as well.
There may be fewer child labour issues and more child abuse in the region....
Society and authorities in the UAE have made remarkable progress in certain areas - a lot in fact - mostly in the education sector. More importantly, 30 years ago, people like me raised the issue of camel jockeys, where children used to be brought here to work as jockeys. That has, more or less, completely been eradicated. Credit goes to the society and the rulers. That is a success story as far as child abuse is concerned.
Are there any challenges even after winning the Nobel Peace Prize?
Well, now things are definitely moving, effectively and positively. The Peace Prize has been conferred on me. But that is not important. What is important is that the issue has been acknowledged as serious and a threat to global peace. We cannot live in peace when children are left behind.
Let me give a few examples. I have been struggling for the last many years to create a movement involving anti-slavery probes, educational rights and anti-child labour rights. And it has not been easy. But after the Nobel Prize, I have been able to discuss the issues with the UN Secretary General.
I was also able to talk to President Obama, very informally, as we are talking now. I also spoke to the Prime Minister of Norway, Prime Minister of Sweden, France, and so many other important dignitaries. They have all agreed to my campaign.
Do you think young people are passionate about taking up the cause?
Wherever I go I see young people are very enthusiastic. I think they are happy and take great pride in the fact that an Indian is a Nobel Laureate. This whole issue of child labour, child marriage, child trafficking are very much in the public eye.
Can you tell us more about the Kailash Satyarthi foundation?
I started working in India in 1980 and then I realised a small group of idealistic, passionate young people wants to work with us. Hence, we needed a bigger organisation.
We formed Bachpan Bachao Andolan, and then we realised it is not enough because the problem of child slavery and child abuse are not problems in Indian alone. I visited Pakistan and Nepal and I came to know that children are suffering in the same manner or even worse. That prompted us to form a regional organisation called the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, back in 1988-89.
Then again, we realised that it was a global problem and this led to the creation of a global movement called Global March of Child Labour. Then we realised that child labour couldn't be solved without focusing on the issue of education. That led to the formation of the global campaign of education. After the Nobel Peace Prize I realised that I could use the opportunity to do some of the non-accomplished or half accomplished work quickly. So we set up Kailash Satyarthi Children's Foundation (http://www.satyarthi.org/ ). It has been set up in the India and the United States.
The foundation is looking at bigger things, not just on child labour or education. We want to convey that not just child slavery and prostitution, but even denial of education is violence.
arti@khaleejtimes.com