MANILA, Philippines - A 13-year-old boy from Cavite is among the three nominees for this year’s International Children’s Peace Prize, an award launched in 2005 during a summit of Nobel Peace laureates, and conferred on a child who has made significant contributions in upholding the rights of children.
Kesz Valdez is the founder of Championing Community Children, a group of young volunteers who use the extra money they earn from selling candies to buy toys, hygiene kits and slippers for poor children in their community.
The organization has so far helped over 10,000 children. At the age of two, Kesz was abused, forced to beg and collect rubbish at the dumpsite. Three years later, he sustained burns on his arm and back, prompting him to run away from home.
He was adopted by the Dynamic Teen Company, an organization of young civic-minded volunteers led by CNN Hero of the Year awardee Efren Peñaflorida. The other nominees for the International Children’s Peace Prize are 15-year-old Amina from Ghana and 16-year-old Anwara from India. The three were chosen out of 97 nominees from 43 countries for their active commitment in bringing about impressive changes in their communities at a very young age. South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace laureate, will present the award to the winner on Sept. 19 in The Hague, Netherlands.
The International Children’s Peace Prize was launched by the group KidsRights in 2005 in Rome during the Nobel Peace Laureates’ Summit.