Kehkashan Basu

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Kehkashan Basu
Born (2000-06-05) June 5, 2000 (age 23)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates[1][2]
Alma materUniversity of Toronto[2]
Occupation(s)Environmentalist, Human rights activist[1]
Years active2008–present
OrganizationGreen Hope Foundation
AwardsInternational Children's Peace Prize (2016)
Website

Kehkashan Basu (Meritorious Service Medal (Canada))[3][4] (born June 5, 2000)[5][6] is an Emirati environmental and human rights activist.[1][7][8] She also works for peace, children’s rights, education for sustainable development, nuclear disarmament, gender equality and climate justice.[9][10] She is the Founder-President of Green Hope Foundation.[11] It is the youngest Councillor of World Future Council.[12] It is the youngest Trustee of the Parliament of the World's Religions.[13] She is a KidsRights Youngsters member and winner of the International Children's Peace Prize 2016.[14]

Life[change | change source]

Early life[change | change source]

Kehkashan was born on June 5.[15] At the age of 8, she started planting trees and organising young people for recycling programs. At the age of 11, she spoke at the TUNZA Children and Youth Conference in Indonesia. At the age of 12, she set a record as the youngest delegate to speak at a press conference at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20).[6]

Education[change | change source]

Basu attended the Deira International School in Dubai.[15] She moved to Canada to study further.[16] As of December 2020, it was a third-year for her at the University of Toronto.[2][17] She is studying in environmental studies and minoring in gender studies and physical and environmental geography.[18]

Career[change | change source]

She founded the Green Hope Foundation in 2012. Her goal is teaching and regulating the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It includes grassroots action such as tree plantations.[2][19][20] The organization also involves young people globally in the SDGs. It is through the community-focused projects in climate justice.[21] It is associated with land degradation, sustainable consumption and renewable energy, and biodiversity conservation, as well as gender equality and social justice. As of now, it has more than 3000 members in total. Members are from across Canada, Suriname, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Australia, Kenya, The Bahamas, Chile, Vietnam, Seychelles, Sweden, The Netherlands, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Peru, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Kiribati and Liberia. The organization works by conducting workshops and conferences around the regulation of the SDGs.[11][22]


In 2017, she published the short story book "The Tree of Hope". It was in association with the illustrator Karen Webb-Meek.[10][23] In the book, a young girl creates an oasis in a desert. She does so by planting trees and requesting friends to help her.[6]

In 2021, Basu was a keynote speaker at the first annual Peace Education Day Conference, held online.[24]

Awards and Honours[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Kehkashan Basu, Environmental and child rights activist, United Arab Emirates". www.standup4humanrights.org. Archived from the original on 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Kehkashan Basu". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Government of Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada (2022-01-29). "Canada Gazette, Part 1, Volume 156, Number 5: GOVERNMENT HOUSE". www.gazette.gc.ca. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 General, Office of the Secretary to the Governor. "Ms. Kehkashan Basu". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  5. ↑ "Kehkashan Basu". World Future Council. Archived from the original on 15 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "2016 - Kehkashan Basu (16), UAE". KidsRights Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  7. ↑ "Kehkashan Basu". Varkey Foundation. Retrieved 2022-01-19.[permanent dead link]
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Harris, Teresa. "Top 25 Women of Influence 2018: Kehkashan Basu – Women of Influence". Archived from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  9. ↑ "I am Generation Equality: Kehkashan Basu, feminist youth leader and environmentalist from the UAE". UN Women – Arab States. 10 August 2021. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Kehkashan Basu - Green Hope Foundation". One Girl. 2019-01-12. Archived from the original on 2021-03-30. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "GreenHopeFoundation – The Future belongs to us!". Archived from the original on 2022-01-05. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  12. ↑ "Kehkashan Basu". MESIA. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "Board of Trustees | Parliament of the World's Religions". parliamentofreligions.org. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  14. ↑ Nianias, Helen (15 December 2016). "Dubai's teen eco-warrior: 'It was preordained that I'd take care of mother earth'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Kehkashan Basu's Story | UNCCD". United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Archived from the original on 13 August 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  16. ↑ "Schoolgirl from UAE wins Children's Peace Prize". gulfnews.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  17. ↑ Adams, Susan. "From Climate Change To Chronic Truancy, Forbes' 30 Under 30 In Education Are Tackling Some Of The World's Toughest Problems". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  18. ↑ Chin, Amanda (1 January 2021). "Kehkashan Basu: Awards, goals and how it all began with a dead bird". Study International. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  19. ↑ Rodrigues, Janice (19 October 2021). "Meet the UAE's young eco-warriors fighting for a better tomorrow". The National News. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  20. ↑ "Kehkashan Basu – Emirates Woman". Emirates Woman. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  21. ↑ "Kehkashan Basu, Founder, Green Hope Foundation". Women in Renewable Energy. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  22. ↑ "Kehkashan Basu". NAAEE. 15 August 2018. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 26 July 2019 suggested (help)
  23. ↑ Basu, Kehkashan (2017). The Tree of Hope (PDF). Illustrated by Karen Webb-Meek. Berkshire, United Kingdom: The Voices of Future Generations International Children's Book Series. ISBN 978-0956995520. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-04-10. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  24. ↑ "Peace Education Day Conference Speakers". Peace Education Day. Archived from the original on 2022-03-09. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
  25. ↑ Phillips, Vicki (2020-07-14). "#GenGeo: Introducing our spring 2020 National Geographic Young Explorers". National Geographic Education Blog. Archived from the original on 2021-04-11. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  26. ↑ "Kehkashan Basu". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  27. ↑ "World Literacy Awards - World Literacy Foundation". worldliteracyfoundation.org. 2021-09-07. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.

Other websites[change | change source]

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