1. Biography

2. Books

3. Awards

4. References

Kehkashan Basu (born 5th June, 2000) is an youth leader, environmentalist, musician, poet and author. She is the winner of the 2016 International Children's Peace Prize. She has been impacting the global fraternity since she was 8 years old with her work on climate justice, children’s rights, education for sustainable development, gender equality and peace. In 2013, at the age of 12, she was elected for a 2 year term as the Global Coordinator for United Nations Environment Programme’s Major Groups for Children & Youth making her the youngest person and the first minor, ever, to be elected into this position in the history of UNEP.

A passionate advocate of children’s rights, Kehkashan is a United Nations Human Rights Champion. Kehkashan is the founder of a youth organization, Green Hope Foundation, which seeks to educate and empower children and youth globally and engage them in the SDG2030 process through ground level community centric projects on climate justice, stopping land degradation, promoting sustainable consumption, biodiversity conservation and gender equality, promoting renewable energy and social justice. Green Hope now has over 1000 members across Canada, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent and has engaged thousands of young people and adults through their workshops and conferences in the implementation of the sustainable development goals.

Biography

Iconic youth leader , global influencer , environmentalist ,champion of children’s rights , peace and sustainability campaigner and a passionate advocate of women’s rights , 18 year old Kehkashan Basu is a trail blazer who has been challenging the status quo and breaking social strictures and taboos which impede the progress and rights of future generations. Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize, Kehkashan is a true global citizen born to Indian parents in Abu Dhabi , raised in Dubai and now living in Toronto, Canada. Born on World Environment Day , 5th June, Kehkashan embarked on her environmental crusade at the tender age of 8 , when she used her birthday gift money to plant a tree. By the time she was 12, she had already announced her arrival on the global platform by being one of the youngest delegates to attend the 2012 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil where she was youngest person to address a press conference on the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification. A few months later, in early 2013 , she created history by being elected as the youngest ever Global Coordinator for UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) Major Groups for Children & Youth and a member of its Major Groups Facilitating Committee .

For her path breaking work on protecting children’s , Kehkashan is now a United Nations Human Rights Champion. Kehkashan is a tireless civil society advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals and holds leadership positions in several organizations , some of which are listed below :

She has been named as one of Toronto’s most inspiring women changemakers.^[1]

On her return from the 2012 Earth Summit , Kehkashan founded her own youth organization, GREEN HOPE FOUNDATION, to provide a platform of engagement and empowerment of children and youth, especially those who were marginalized and turn them into change-makers who would address the sustainability issues at a local level. From its humble beginnings of five pre-teen members , Green Hope is now a global youth organization with headquarters in Canada and operations and chapters in 11 countries with over 1000 active members. Kehkashan used ESD ( Education for Sustainable Development) as a transformative tool to educate young people. She conducts “Environment Academies” which are tailor made conferences and workshops where she uses innovative and creative modes of communication such as art, music, songs, dance, drama and sport to explain the various sustainability issues. A large segment of her audience comprises of refugees , orphans , homeless and the destitute - children who have no formal education and have no access to school. Sustainability is a very difficult topic for them to grasp and therefore her usage of the above creative and non-conventional mediums provides a unique communication vehicle which these marginalized audiences find easy to grasp and involved in. Since conducting her first “Environment Academy” in September 2012, Kehkashan has conducted over 120 such events in more than 20 countries , directly educating over 10,000 children and youth. Kehkashan trains members of her foundation to conduct these academies and plans and implements all logistical aspects of these workshops. Green Hope complements these academies with local , community ground level actions where her team of young environmentalists convert their words into action. Till date , Green Hope has planted over 15,000 trees worldwide , conducted over 100 cleanups and waste segregation/recycling campaigns , launched campaigns to protect fragile mangrove ecosystems in Suriname , the Middle East and the Sunderbans in India and spread awareness to save endangered marine life. As a part of her relief and education campaigns, she has visited Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon , refugees in Malaysia, orphanages in Nepal , the poor and destitute across several Indian cities. Since her audience are children and youth , with many of them At now has over 1000 members across Middle East, India, Brazil, USA, Canada, Europe and SE Asia. Empowering young people is her passion and she spends a lot of time personally training and guiding many of them, majority girls, to conduct "on the ground" campaigns on mitigating climate change. Through her work on inclusivity, she has put into effect the United Nations mandate of “leave no one behind” .

Kehkashan is a social influencer and has spread her message of peace, equality and justice far and wide by speaking at over 75 United Nations and other international forums travelling to over 20 nations. Her speeches have influenced policy making and motivated thousands of youth and adults alike to join her march towards creating a sustainable world. Some of her recent speeches have been at :

She has also spoken at the World Bank Youth summit , for UN Women’s Leaders Forum and at the Town Hall in Bonn.

Books

Kehkashan is a poet, musician and author and her maiden book “Tree of Hope”^[2] was launched at the 2015 United Nations Children’s Summit in New York. It narrates the story of a young girl, much like Kehkashan , who plants trees to turn her desert village into an oasis. This book is now available on Amazon and is a part of several school libraries worldwide.

Awards

Kehkashan is a self-less and humble person who finds joy in the happiness and well-being of those who are marginalized. Her journey over the past 10 years has been fraught with several challenges which include cyberbullying, hate mails, stalking and threats of violence. Undeterred by these obstacles , Kehkashan has stared adversity in the face and moved ahead in her march to realize her vision and mission. Along the way, Kehkashan has been felicitated with numerous awards and citations notable amongst them being :

References

• Busch Gardens, Williamsburg
• Buschhütten
• Buschi
• Busch Ice
• Busching
• Busching (crater)
• Buschke disease
• Buschke-Fischer-Brauer disease
• Buschke-Lowenstein tumor
• Buschke-Löwenstein tumor
• Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome
• Buschke Ollendorff syndrome
• Buschke–Fischer–Brauer disease
• Buschke–Löwenstein tumor
• Busch League
• Busch Light 300
• Busch NA
• BU School of Law
• Busch Properties, Inc.
• Busch-Reisinger Museum
• Busch Series
• Busch Silver Celebration 250
• Busch Tennis Courts
• Buschur
• Buschwiller