Abraham M Keita

Abraham M. Keita is a Liberian child rights activist. He is known mainly for advocating against violence against children and demanding justice for child victims of sexual violence particularly girls. He also advocates for children right to education in his home country. He is the winner of the 2015 International Children's Peace Prize,.

Keita was born on April 21, 1998. When he was five years old, his father was killed by rebels while driving for a humanitarian relief organization. Since then, Keita and his 12 siblings were raised by his mother and relatives in West Point, a slum area in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. Keita went to N. V. Massaquoi Public School and graduated high school at age seventeen.

In 2007, also nine (9) years old at the time, his strong sense of righteousness was ignited when 13-year old Angel Togba was sexually abused and strangulated to death by her foster parents. Cognizant that children are silent victims of violence whose rights can easily be violated, Keita chose to participate in a peaceful demonstration to demand justice for the 13-year old girl. Between 2007 and 2015, Keita organized several nationwide peaceful marches to demand justice for children, including a peaceful march for 15 year-old Shaki Kamara of West Point (Keita's hometown), who was gunned down by state security officers of the Armed Forces of Liberia during the height of the Ebola crisis. His protests have also focused on education for all children. When Liberia was declared Ebola-free, Keita campaigned for education for Ebola-orphans. As a result of his advocacy, UNICEF, Save the Children and other organizations intervened.

Through lobbying, speaking, writing and organizing protests, Keita has brought many child rights violations to national and global attention and has gained the attention of international organizations. When the over 200 school Chibok-girls were captured by terrorists in Nigeria, Keita sent a statement of solidarity on behalf of Liberia to the People and Government of Nigeria. Currently, Keita runs his own radio program in Liberia.

In a statement in July 2016, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described Keita has "a young champion of justice and a role model for children worldwide". Ban said, he, too, share the vision and passion of the teenage boy.

As a member of Liberia's Children's Parlement, Keita advocated for national legislation on children's rights. In 2012 Liberia passed the Children's Law which both the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter.

As part of a nationwide anti-rape campaign by the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf-led government in 2014, Keita launched a campaign with the support of UNFPA Liberia, which focused on children speaking out against rape and other forms of sexual violence. This Campaign was rolled-out in schools and many young people started creating awareness on rape. Children also wrote poems on how to prevent rape in Liberia. These poems were read by Keita during his live radio talk show.

Keita also prevented at least one child marriage from going ahead. This marriage would have put together a 14 year-old girl and a man in his early thirties.

While Keita was growing up, he used writing and speaking as powerful tools of change. He became well known among young people and in the media landscape due to his strong analysis of child-related policies, beginning at age 13. His love for writing and speaking led him to start writing articles in Liberian newspapers including Frontpage Africa (Liberia’s leading online newspaper), and appearing on many radio and TV programs across the country. Keita became a participant of Let’s Talk About It (a radio talk show), and YoungVoice (a TV program).

The global child rights icon and award-winning activist is the presenter of his own radio program, OurFuture.

On November 9, 2015, the teenager was awarded the 2015 International Children's Peace Prize for demanding justice for child victims of violence. After winning this prestigious award, Keita has been invited to many events around the world including at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and the UN General Assembly in New York.