(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

A sixteen-year-old Syrian girl who caught the world's attention as a seven-year-old tweeting from the siege of Aleppo on Wednesday won the KidsRights Prize for her advocacy for children affected by war.

Bana Al Abed, who was evacuated to Turkey in 2016 with her family, was awarded the International Children's Peace Prize for her work "reuniting families, reopening schools and offering tangible hope to children in conflict zones like Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine and Syria", the Netherlands-based KidsRights Foundation said.

Recommended For You Dubai: Emirates Islamic Bank to close 5 branches amid rationalising network

Al-Abed has attended conferences around the world campaigning for children's rights, visited kids in refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan, written two books, and earned global recognition from world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

"With a voice that knows no fear, I ask (ex-Syrian president) Bashar al-Assad, (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu, (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, the Sudanese warlords, and all the other warlords across the globe: How many children have had their lives and dreams stolen by wars, by a regime that kills its citizens, in the name of survival by a criminal who markets war as a political agenda, by an empire that justifies aggression in the name of security, and by those who have turned violence into a deliberate policy?" al-Abed said in her acceptance speech at Stockholm City Hall.

"Know this: your words will not go unaccounted for. We will not remain silent in the face of those who made blood a means of rule or power," she said.

- Education -

In an interview before the prize ceremony, al-Abed told AFP that ensuring children in war zones could attend school was her top priority.

"There are so many things that we should try to help children with, but the most essential thing is education," she said.

"When they're given an education, they're also given hope and opportunity to grow and develop," she said.

They also need to be allowed to feel like children.

In war, "children are pushed to become mature and to understand their surroundings much faster and quicker than they should", she said.

Al-Abed has not been back to Syria since her family fled, but she wants to help rebuild the country and its schools.

"Syria now is in need of so many people's help to rebuild," she said, noting that bare schools now greet young pupils.

"There is nothing. Children are forced to sit on the floor. It's cold. There are no whiteboards, no books, no desks, no materials for education."

She is also working to reunite the 5,000 Syrian children forcibly removed from their families during the war and whose fates remain unknown.

The founder and chairman of KidsRights, Marc Dullaert, hailed al-Abed's "courage, resilience and unwavering commitment to justice", noting that despite experiencing "unimaginable hardships", she had transformed her story into a "powerful advocacy platform".

Previous winners of the award include Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai.

MENAFN20112025000049011007ID1110375487