More than two million South African school children are expected to take part in the vote for the annual World Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child (WCPRC), which opened this week.
Since its inception in 2000, the Swedish prize has been awarded to individuals who have done outstanding work in the field of children’s rights. Twenty-seven people have already received the award since its inception, and as the prize is now in its 10th anniversary year, the 2009 votes will determine the Child Rights Hero of the Decade.
There are 13 candidates up for the honour, all former laureates, including the late Aids activist Nkosi Johnson and former president Nelson Mandela and his wife Graca Michel. No other country has as large a representation amongst the candidates.
“The voting is open to school children aged 10 to 18 and we are hoping to improve on the two million votes we received here in 2008,” says Marlene Winberg, project co-ordinator for South Africa.
Winberg told the Teacher that just over 6.5 million children voted for the prize last year, spread over 50 000 schools in 94 countries, with the majority of votes coming from South Africa.
“There has been an enormous response to the whole process around the prize in South Africa, with more than 50% of schools having registered to take part in the voting process, which ends in October.
“In fact, education minister Naledi Pandor is a patron of the World Children’s Prize and the voting process has been incorporated into the national department of education’s life skills curriculum.”
The award will be announced on November 20 to coincide with the anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child, and will have a particularly South African flavour this year.
A young learner from the North West province, Gabatswane Gumedi, will sit on the international jury, and she will be joined by Saarah Surve who will act as a goodwill ambassador.
To register your school call the Children’s World offices on 021-7820927 or visit their website at www.childrensworld.org for more details.