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By Sifelani
Tsiko
Harare, Zimbabwe (April 15 2007)
PROMINENT Zimbabwe child rights activist and
campaigner Betty Makoni has won the World's
Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child.
She is the first Zimbabwean to win the prize
which carries the weight similar to the fame and
recognition that goes with a Nobel Peace prize.
The announcement was made last Friday in
Stockholm, Sweden.
Queen Silvia of Sweden, one of the patrons of
the prize is expected to present the award,
worth 1 million kronor (140,000 US dollars), at
a ceremony to be held on Monday (April 16).
The Zimbabwean activist won half a million
Swedish kronor (US$70 000) as prize money.
Makoni, who herself is a victim of rape, won two
of the three awards -the Global Vote Award and
the Jury Award beating Burmese Dr Cynthia Maung
and Indian children's rights activist Inderjit
Khurana who received honorary awards for their
commitment to the promotion of the rights of
children and education.
A 15-member jury of former child soldiers,
street children, bonded workers and refugees
from 15 countries selected Makoni for the top
awards.
Makoni, a forceful child rights activist is a
hero in Zimbabwe and has set up three villages
that offer shelter to young abused girls.
She is known for protecting young girls from
assault, forced marriage, trafficking and sexual
abuse even from high ranking politicians.
Makoni is the founder and executive director of
Girl Child Network which has among other
programmes established 500 girls' clubs with
30,000 members, mostly in rural areas and in
poor townships across the country.
Previous recipients of the award from Africa
include Graca Machel and her husband Nelson
Mandela who run the Nelson Mandela Children's
Foundation and the late South African Aids
activist Nkosi Johnson, Hector Pietersen who was
the first to be killed by
apartheid
agents during the
Sharpeville
massacre
and a
Rwanda-based orphans group among a list of other
winners.
"It is quite humbling that I
have received this award and it will be
interesting to be honoured by the Queen of
Sweden, Queen Silvia and the King of Sweden,"
Makoni was quoted saying.
"We are certainly rejuvenated and when we get to
Harare we will start breathing more life into
our campaign for girl child emancipation and
empowerment. Zimbabwe is where I want to work
and my passion is to fulfil my dream of
emancipation.
"The job I am doing is one of love. Nothing will
ever make me leave the job or my country of
birth where my services are still needed,"
Makoni told the Zimbabwe Sunday Mail.
Cynthia Maung of Myanmar was honoured for her
work offering health care and education to
thousands of refugee children in Myanmar and
refugee camps in Thailand while Khurana has set
up schools and hotlines for vulnerable children
who live and work on train station platforms.
Patrons of the World's Children's Prize include
Queen Silvia, former South African President
Nelson Mandela, East Timor President Xanana
Gusmao, Carol Bellamy the former head of UNICEF,
and Nobel economics prize laureate Joseph
Stiglitz.
The award was established in 2000 by the Swedish
non-governmental organization, Children's World.
The WCPRC has been equated to the Nobel Peace
Prize and is held with equal esteem in the world
of children's rights activism.
