Contents
Kailash Satyarthi
Campaigning against child labour and for children’s right to education.
Child rights · Nobel Peace Prize 2014
- Born
- 11 January 1954
- Birthplace
- Vidisha, India
More people
Kailash Satyarthi
Kailash Satyarthi is an Indian children’s-rights campaigner and founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan. He shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai.
Early life
Vidisha childhood
Grew up in central India, where seeing children work instead of attending school shaped his concerns.
Engineering training
Qualified in electrical engineering and worked as a teacher before becoming a full-time campaigner.
Career
- 1980
Bachpan Bachao Andolan
Founded a movement opposing child labour and exploitation.
- 1990s
Supply-chain campaigning
Helped establish Rugmark, later known as GoodWeave, to address child labour in carpet production.
- 1998
Global March
Helped lead an international mobilisation against child labour.
- 2014
Nobel Peace Prize
Shared recognition for defending children’s rights and access to education.
Campaigns
Bachpan Bachao Andolan
Combined campaigning with work to free children from exploitation.
Carpet certification
Helped connect consumer purchasing with scrutiny of labour conditions.
Global March Against Child Labour
Brought organisations and campaigners together across countries.
Beyond campaigning
Rehabilitation
His work includes education and support after children leave exploitative labour.
Family involvement
His wife Sumedha has worked alongside him in the children’s-rights movement.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Nobel Prize biography and award ↗Photo: Lula Oficial. CC BY-SA 4.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
