Free The Children is an international charity and educational partner with programs in 45 countries. The mission of Free the Children is to create a world where all young people are able to fully realize their capacity to change the world around them. The organization was founded by 12 year old Craig Kielburger in 1995 after being inspired by the story of a South Asian boy named Iqbal who had been sold into slavery at 4 years old and sadly lost his life at age 12 while speaking out for children’s rights. Kielburger knew he had to do something so he gathered 11 school friends in his Toronto 7th grade class and Free the Children was born.
Free The Children provides programs for service and active citizenship in Canada, the US and the UK. In all programs, their goal is to educate and empower youth with the tools, confidence and support to be ambassadors for change and lead meaningful action. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, the organization provides a child-focused development approach to people of all ages based on the the African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child”. They work together with these communities to establish a curriculum which gives all community members the education, skills and opportunity to lift themselves out of poverty for good.
Free The Children has been honored with many awards including the State of the World Forum Medal, the Roosevelt Freedom Medal, the 2006 World’s Children’s Nobel Prize, the 2006 Human Rights Award from the UN and has been one of Canada’s top employers for youth in 2010 and 2011. They have also been longtime partners with popular Canadian television show Degrassi to help spread even more awareness and bring about change.
For more information on Free the Children, visit their website.
