Els Kloek

Floris van Straaten

What do Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank have in common? Both opened the eyes of the world to the injustice done to them as children. Malala deliberately set out to fight for her right to education. While Anne Frank unwittingly became a symbol of the effect of war on the lives of children. Children Who Changed the World, tells the stories of more than twenty children who have opened the worlds eyes to serious problems in society, and who have contributed to the solution. As children, they have changed our world for the better.

Children like Iqbal Masih, Andrew Adansi, Ishmael Beah, Urmila Chaudhary and Nujood Ali spoke out against child labour, discrimination, child marriage, poverty, exclusion from education, war, disease and hunger. They were listened to, despite - or perhaps because of - their young age. Kim Phuc, Ruby Bridges, Nkosi Johnson and Helen Keller did not accept their fate, they challenged it. Their perseverance is an inspiration to other children, as well as to adults.

Who are these children? What have they accomplished, what inspired them? What has the effect of their actions been, and what remains to be done? In Children Who Changed the World, we hear from the children themselves, many of them now adults. Their stories demonstrate that change is possible and it is worthwhile standing up against injustice whether you are a child or an adult. That is the lesson they have taught us.