Craig
Kielburger, Founder and Chairperson, Free the
Children
Craig Kielburger is 18 years of age. He has one older brother,
Marc, and lives with his parents in Toronto, Canada. Craig first
became a spokesperson for children's rights when he was 12 years
old and read about the murder of a young boy from Pakistan who was
sold into bondage as a carpet weaver and murdered for speaking out
against child labor. Craig gathered a group of friends and founded
the organization (Kids can) Free the Children which is now the
world's largest network of children helping children with over
100,000 active youth in 27 countries around the world.
Over the past five years, Craig has traveled to more than 30
countries visiting street and working children and speaking out in
defense of children's rights. He is a much-in-demand speaker who
has addressed government officials and business leaders, educators
and students around the world. This year Craig was named by the
Jerusalem Post as one of the ten most interesting people to visit
Israel.
Free the Children has initiated many projects all over the
world, including the construction of more than 100 schools, and
two live in rehabilitation centers for children, the creation of
alternative sources of revenue for poor families to free children
from hazardous work, leadership programs for youth and projects
linking children on an international level. Young people have
built a health center in Nicaragua, and distributed over $500,000
of medical supplies and 25,000 school kits to help children go to
school. In addition, Free the Children has helped to convince
members of the international business community to adopt codes of
conduct in regards to child labor and governments to change laws
to better protect children from sexual exploitation.
Craig has gained international recognition on CNN, 60 Minutes,
Oprah and major television networks around the world. A
documentary on his work won the 1999 Gold level UNESCO award at
the New York Film Festival. His efforts on behalf of working,
poor, and marginalized young people have been featured in major
print media, including the New York Times, Newsweek, Biography,
People Magazine, Stern, Point de Vue and the Times of London.
Craig has received many awards for his work, including the
State of the World Forum Award, the Governor General's Award for
Meritorious Service and the prestigious Roosevelt Freedom Medal.
Other recipients include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Shimon Perez.
Craig was named a Global Leader of Tomorrow at the World Economic
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and he serves Ambassador of the First
Children's Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Craig's first book Free The Children which outlines his journey
from the suburbs of Toronto, through the slums and sweatshops of
South Asia, to the world stage of international human rights, has
won critical acclaim and has been translated into seven
languages.
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