Maria stopped 27 child marriages — now she's in the running for the 'Nobel prize for children'

Maria Akter Baby was a shy teenager from Bangladesh who joined a children's forum through a drawing competition, not knowing much about children's rights at all. What she learned there changed her: she built a local network of children, police, councilors and community leaders to respond when a child marriage is reported — and the network has helped stop 27 of them. She has helped 23 children leave child labour and return to school, and her climate-awareness work has reached more than 100,000 people. This week she was nominated for the 2026 International Children's Peace Prize, awarded by the Dutch organization KidsRights to young changemakers worldwide. She is now president of the Suryodoy Children's Forum, representing some 200,000 children.