Iqbal Masih was a Pakistani carpet weaver who was sold into slavery at age four. After escaping from his servitude at 12, he became an outspoken advocate against child slavery.
He told the world of his plight when he received the Reebok Human Rights Award in 1994. He was tragically killed a year later at the age of 13 in his native Pakistan.
Now the U.S. Labor Department is seeking nominations for its annual award named for Masih to honor those who have made extraordinary efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor internationally and raise awareness about child labor.
The nonmonetary Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor, established in 2009, could honor an individual, company, organization or national government. Nominees are judged by their efforts that contribute to reduction of child labor, the positive international attention they generate to support those efforts, their inspiration to others—including young people—to become champions against child labor and the change they foment regarding labor exploitation of children under great odds or at great personal cost, according to the department.
Read the Federal Register announcement of the award here. Nomination packages must be submitted by Sept. 30.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), more than 200 million children, many as young as five years old, work in factories and in fields, up to 15 hours a day, sometimes seven days a week. Matches, rugs, soccer balls, leather goods, paper cups, toys, shoes, fireworks—all of these products are made by tiny hands.
