 |
| Abraham Keita (Image credits: EPA) |
A Liberian teenager has
been awarded a prestigious international prize for his role in fighting sexual
abuse against girls in the West African state. Abraham Keita was only
nine years old when he joined a child-led protest in West Point, one of the
biggest slums in Liberia's capital, to demand justice for a teenage girl who
was sexually abused and brutally murdered by her foster parents.
BBC News report continues:
He
later became a member of the Children's Parliament, the driving force behind a
campaign to enshrine children's rights to education, healthcare and birth
registration in law.
Liberia's
2012 Children's Law has since been hailed as one of the most comprehensive on
the continent by campaigners.
"I
was inspired to do something by the murder of the girl in West Point and the
terrible situation in Liberia for young girls - the victim could have been my
sister or a close friend," said Keita, now 17, who was named the winner of
the annual International Children's Peace Prize.
"Winning this award
will give hope to children across Liberia, but a lot more needs to be done so
they can be compared to children in cities like Amsterdam, Washington and
London," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment