The 2003 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership

RESPONSE of Shantha Sinha

Your Excellency President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, distinguished guests, fellow awardees, ladies and gentlemen.

I accept the great honour bestowed upon me with humility. I am overwhelmed to be included with eminent personages and to be a part of such a great tradition of Asia.

I owe this award to the parents in Andhra Pradesh who believed that their children deserve the best, and were willing to make enormous sacrifices to give them a life of dignity. The voice of these parents cuts across cultures such as tribal communities, minorities, dalits and others; across livelihood patterns such as agricultural labourers, landless labour, small and marginal peasants, artisans, fishermen, migrant labour, those engaged in informal work in rural, urban and semi-urban contexts. They have shown beyond doubt that there is a crying demand for education.

I also owe the award to all the children who have braved their way to schools and are willing to fight a daily battle to continue until they finish school. It is no exaggeration to say that these young girls and boys, and their acts of defiance are paving the way for future generations of children and their rights.

In a sense this award is a vindication of our organisation's stand that 'no child must work and every child must go to school'. The award has been owned by thousands of our volunteers who are working relentlessly for the protection of children's rights, especially the right to education. I often wonder what gives our volunteers this capacity to be so tolerant and magnanimous, and to engage even the most difficult of adversaries to become a protagonists for child rights. This was possible because of their belief in the path of non-violence and the power of dialogue and discussion. Their inordinate faith in the system and their conviction that it is possible to build a norm in favour of child rights is, indeed, so very touching. They know that in the emancipation of children, and building a society that respects them, lay the foundation for the emancipation of all.

The Award has enthused all our partners -- NGOs, government officials, donors, parents, youth, elected representatives, teachers, lobbyists -- those who ardently believe that abolishing all forms of child labour and sending children to full-time formal schools is non-negotiable. There is a mood of celebration shared by everyone who is contributing towards the protection of child rights. Even in the remotest of villages in Andhra Pradesh, meetings and rallies are being held; messages of congratulations and greetings are being exchanged, giving all of us great sense of pride.

It is still hard to believe the dramatic effect the Award has had. Protection of child rights has now made the headlines in the press and on TV. The possibility of children enjoying the right to education is being intensely discussed in the media, in schools, at work places, in farms and factories and in government departments. This is something we had always dreamed must happen. The Magsaysay Award has made it possible almost overnight. We do hope to seize this moment to move further towards the abolition of child labour. I thank the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation for putting the issue of child rights on centre stage!