World Children's Award

Instituted in 2007, this Award marks a break from history and uniquely empowers the children. The first World Children's Award was presented at the World Children's Festival 2007 by the children to LEGO in recognition of the company's efforts to nurture their creativity. The 2007 Award was designed by Tiffany & Co.

ICAF Youth Board Members presenting the World Children's Award 2011 to the W. K. Kellogg Foundation for its devotion to children's welfare at the opening of the 4th World Children's Festival on the National Mall, Washington DC on June 17, 2011.

The 2011 Award - designed by Karim Rashid (New York) and produced by Freedom of Creation (Amsterdam)

Life is about creation. And creation is inseparable from human evolution, which in turn defines progress. The new tools of the digital age have afforded us infinite possibilities and has finally opened up the opportunity for everyone to create, participate, and disseminate. It has empowered individualism and intellectual freedom. Every finger print is different; every child who is born immediately creates originality and personal expression. Sadly collective society for centuries has suppressed creativity (and this has gone on too long) but we are finally understanding that if we were all creative as children, we all have the creative capabilities for our entire lives, and as we grow older we could be encouraged to constantly be pro-creative. We could be living in a far more poetic human beautiful world, and one day all of us will all be able to leave our mark, our 'creative' fingerprint on the ever-vast changing world. This is only the beginning of iberalizing all of us to express our individualism. I love the digital data- driven age of freedom, of democracy, with no boundaries and no borders. Culture, place, race, religion, creed, color will not differentiate us. The only differentiation is between every single one of us.

Globalove,
Karim Rashid