Craig Kielburger

At age 12, Craig Kielburger has already become a recognized spokesperson for children's rights. It all started seven years ago when he was looking for the comics in his local newspaper. Craig was drawn to a front-page article about a boy in Pakistan who was sold into slavery and forced to work as a carpet weaver. He escaped but was later murdered for speaking out against child labor.

Moved to action, Craig and several friends founded the organization Kids Can Free the Children. Since he began advocating for the rights of children, Craig and his organization have affected change in more than 35 countries. They have raised money to build more than 300 primary schools in developing nations, distributed 100,000 school kits and medical supplies to families in need, and supported healthcare clinics and portable water projects in rural areas throughout the world. In addition, Kids Can Free the Children has lobbied corporations to adopt labels for child-labor free products, and successfully lobbied to pass laws in Canada, Mexico, and Italy to better protect sexually abused children. They continue to coordinate youth outreach across the globe to promote peace and non-violence toward children.

Craig has received numerous humanitarian and public service awards. He has met and consulted with church leaders including Pope John Paul II as well as presidents and prime ministers. He is symbolic of the passion, generosity, courage, tenacity, and compassion youth can and do offer the world.

Fundamental to Craig's mission is his strong belief that young people can play a crucial role in the political process, social and economic justice, and human rights. "One of the greatest problems facing Free the Children is the stereotype that young people are naive, or that we're too young to understand these problems, or that we're idealistic, as if it's something that should be outgrown eventually. But if you expose young people to the issues of poverty, war and violence, and child labor, it's not as if you're taking away their childhood. Young people see it in the world. We know there are social injustices. We are trying to help young people not just close their eyes and feel disempowered, but to realize that they do have a positive role to play, through very simple, very concrete actions. Maybe it's a petition, or a letter writing campaign, or a small fundraiser like a bake sale or a car wash, but it empowers them to realize they can make a difference on some level. And it teaches them that, you know what, even small actions can help change the world."

And one ordinary young man, Craig Kielburger, has done just that and helped build peace throughout the world.