Kailash Satyarthi among 88 Nobel laureates, leaders calling for $1 tn to protect children

As many as 88 Nobel laureates and global leaders including Kailash Satyarthi and Dalai Lama have called on the governments to spend $1 trillion to protect marginalised children affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a joint statement by Laureates and Leaders for Children, they said that child labour, child marriages, child trafficking and children on the move will likely increase during and after COVID-19.

“One trillion dollars would fund all outstanding UN and charity COVID-19 appeals, cancel two years of all debt repayments from low-income countries, and fund two years of the global gap to meet the SDGs on health, water and sanitation, and education,” the statement read.

It highlighted that there would still be enough left to fund social protection safety nets which are crucial in the fight against child labour. The Nobel laureates and leaders emphasised on the need for strengthening institutional responses to such future catastrophes, and improve the existing child protection infrastructure.

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'All nations must unite'

They said that cash transfers and ensuring food security for the marginalised, improving hygiene and sanitation, a robust healthcare system and promoting a free and equitable education system with free school meals will be critical. Acknowledging the initial measures taken by the G20, Laureates and Leaders for Children called on G20 leaders to take additional action beyond their own borders for those who urgently need coordinated international aid.

“All nations must unite in this effort to protect the most vulnerable and globalise compassion by taking this moment as an opportunity to innovate and develop new, transformative and sustainable solutions to eradicate child labour, trafficking and slavery, and ensure education for all,” the statement read.

Apart from Satyarthi and Dalai Lama, the signatories of the joint statement include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Oliver Hart, Michel Mayor, Nadia Murad, Malala Yousafzai, Guy Ryder and Viktor Yushchenko among others.

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