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Free the Children is an international charity and youth empowerment movement founded in 1995 by human rights advocates Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger.〔http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/craig-and-marc-kielburger-believe-changing-the-world-is-possible/article1216156/〕 The organization focuses on young people, with programs in Canada, the U.S. and U.K. for service learning and active citizenship, and international development projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America focused on children and education.〔http://missionmeasurement.com/ideas/blog_entry/free-the-children-an-organization-that-drives-significant-impact-on-youth 〕〔http://www.skollfoundation.org/entrepreneur/craig-and-marc-kielburger/ 〕 The organization runs programs in approximately 8000 schools in Canada, the U.S. and U.K. for service learning and active citizenship, with the aim of empowering youth to become socially engaged.〔http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/free-the-children-at-20-an-unlikely-canadian-success-story〕 The domestic youth empowerment work is funded by corporate sponsors and profits from the social enterprise, Me to We. In 2013, Charity Intelligence Canada awarded Free The Children its highest four-star rating, along with an A for the organization's reporting of its "social results". ==History== Free the Children was founded in 1995 by Craig Kielburger when he was 12 years old. Craig was reading through the ''Toronto Star'' newspaper before school one day when he came across an article about the murder of a 12-year-old Pakistani boy called Iqbal Masih, a former child factory worker, who had spoken out against child labour.〔http://dbase.freethechildren.com/news/1999/Guideposts_November_1999.pdf〕 Soon after, Kielburger established Free the Children with a group of his 12-year-old classmates. The organization was formed to raise awareness in North America about child labour and to encourage other children to get involved in the issue.〔http://dbase.freethechildren.com/news/1998/New_Design_Article_Fall_1998.pdf〕 One of the group’s first actions was to collect 3,000 signatures on a petition to the prime minister of India, calling for the release of imprisoned child labour activist Kailash Satyarthi,〔http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/power-of-one/free-the-children-the-story-of-craig-kielburger 〕 who went on to win the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.〔http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2014/press.html 〕 The petition was sent in a shoe box wrapped in brown paper. On his eventual release, Satyarthi said, “It was one of the most powerful actions taken on my behalf, and for me, definitely the most memorable.”〔http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/power-of-one/free-the-children-the-story-of-craig-kielburger〕 Shortly afterward, Kielburger spoke at the convention of the Ontario Federation of Labour, where union representatives pledged $150,000 for a children’s rehabilitation centre in India. The Bal Ashram centre was built by Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi.〔http://www.canadianliving.com/life/community/free_the_children_celebrates_its_20th_birthday.php 〕 In December 1995, Kielburger embarked on an eight-week tour of South Asia to meet child labourers and hear their stories first-hand. It was on that trip that Kielburger captured the attention of the media in North America, mainly because of a high-profile meeting between Kielburger and then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien. While in Asia, Kielburger convinced Chretien to meet with him to challenge the Prime Minister to take a stand against child slavery. 〔http://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/free-the-children-at-20-an-unlikely-canadian-success-story 〕 In 1999, at the age of 16, Craig Kielburger wrote ''Free the Children'', a book detailing his journey to South Asia four years earlier and the founding of his charity. The book was re-released in 2007 with Me to We Books. In 2008, EY and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum, presented the Social Entrepreneur Of The Year award in Canada to Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger for their work with Free The Children. As stated on the charity's website, its goals are to "empower young people to remove barriers that prevent them from being active local and global citizens." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Free the Children」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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