Internet Safety News
Children's 'Nobel Prizes' Announced
by Anne Collier
More than 125,000 school children around the world participated in the online vote for the World's Children's Prize and the Global Friends' Award, which have become known as the Children's Nobel Prizes, established by the Sweden-based nonprofit organization, Children's World.1 Queen Silvia of Sweden announced the winners this month including
- South African Nkosi Johnson, who died of AIDS at the age of 12 last June, who was posthumously honored with the 2002 Global Friends' Award. Queen Silvia presented the award to Nkosi's best friend, Eric Nicholls, and Moshe Nhlapo and Manini Mkhabela, all 12 years old. Moshe and Manini are AIDS orphans now living at Nkosi's Haven,2 a home for women and children with AIDS.
- Nkosi Johnson and the nonprofit organization, Maiti Nepal, that supports victims of child-trafficking and prostitution were recipients of the 2002 World's Children's Prize. Maiti's founder, Anuradha Koirala, received the prize from Queen Silvia together with three girls who were freed from brothels in India to which they had been sold as slaves. One of them was only 7 when she was sold.
1Nkosi Honored Twice by the World's Children. Children's World. April 15, 2002, http://www.childrensworld.org/wcpswe/press/enindex.asp.
2"Nkosi's Haven a Home for Women, Children, Struck by AIDS." CNN.com. July 15, 2000, http://www.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/AIDS/07/14/aids.nkosi/.
Anne Collier is editor of the SafeKids/NetFamilyNewsletter and president of NetFamilyNews.org, a nonprofit news service for parents and teachers of online kids.
