Skills
Oratory
organising youth centric ground level campaigns
social media outreach
using art mediums such music
dance and drama to engage children and youth in the sustainable development process
motivational speaker and an understanding of civil society engagement in United Nations processes.
About me
Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize, 17 year old Kehkashan Basu, has been impacting the global fraternity since she was 8 years old with her work on peace, children’s rights, education for sustainable development, gender equality and climate justice. Born on 5th June, which is also World Environment Day, she feels that it was pre-ordained that she should grow up to be an eco-warrior. In 2013, at the age of 12, she was elected for a 2 year term as UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) Global Coordinator for Children & Youth and a member of its Major Groups Facilitating Committee and she is the youngest person and the first minor, ever, to be elected into this position in the history of UNEP. A passionate advocate of children’s rights, Kehkashan is a United Nations Human Rights Champion and lends her support to the UN’s StandUp campaign. The UK Youth Climate Coalition named her as one the 8 global Climate Heroines of 2014 and in June 2017, rock band U2 featured her as one of powerful women changing the world at their Toronto concert.
Kehkashan is the founder of a youth organization, Green Hope Foundation, which seeks to educate and empower children and youth globally and engage them in the SDG2030 process through ground level community centric projects on climate justice, stopping land degradation, promoting sustainable consumption, biodiversity conservation and gender equality, promoting renewable energy and social justice. Green Hope now has over 1000 members across Canada, USA, the Middle East, India and Nepal and has engaged thousands of young people and adults through their workshops and conferences in the implementation of the sustainable development goals. In her role as the voice of children and youth, she has spoken at over 50 United Nations and other international summits, travelling to over 20 Countries. Her internationally acclaimed work on sustainability has resulted in her appointment as the Youth Ambassador of World Future Council, Honorary Advisor for the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development – NY, Global Advisory Council member of Young Men 4 Gender Equality -USA , a Climate Reality Leader , member of KidsRights Youngsters and a former Global Youth Ambassador for A World At School (2014~2016) to promote the cause of global education.
In 2010 and in 2013, the Middle East’s most coveted education award, HH Shaikh Hamdan Award for Distinguished Academic Performance. She is a poet and prolific writer and her poem won the Taaleem Poetry Award at the 2012 Emirates International Festival of Literature. Her maiden book on sustainability, “Tree of Hope”, was launched at the 2015 United Nations Childrens’ Summit in New York and she also held a “reading” the 2016 Emirates Literature Festival in Dubai. For her advocacy at a global level, Kehkashan has received international awards from UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) in 2012, the 2012 Korea Green Foundation award, the 2013 International Young Eco-Hero award from Action for Nature, USA, the 2014 Kids are Heroes USA award , 2014 GESS award as Ambassador for the Environment , the 2014 Solar Pioneer Award , the 2014 Non-Resident Indian of the Year award and the 2015 International Diana Award.
In 2017, she was conferred the prestigious Energy Globe Award and the Turner Social Change Prize.