Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak receives French award
Pathak is known around the world for his wide-ranging work in the field of sanitation to improve public health, advance social progress and improve human rights in India and around the world.
Environmentalist Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of the famed Sulabh project that provides basic and affordable toilet access to India's poor, has been presented with the "Legend of Planet" award in Paris.
The award was presented to Pathak by the Vice-President of the French Senate, Chantal Jourdan, at Palais du Luxembourg on Monday night.
Pathak is known around the world for his wide-ranging work in the field of sanitation to improve public health, advance social progress and improve human rights in India and around the world.
As the founder of Sulabh International, he pioneered a "toilet revolution" in India using indigenously-developed, cheaper and eco-friendly toilet technology.
"Such kind of honour is a recognition of India's efforts towards the protection of environment. It gives an energy to work harder to serve mankind," Pathak said from Paris.
The award coincided with the launch of the first-ever Green Games organised at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, bringing together environmentalists from all over the world to discuss burning environmental issues and mark World Environment Day on June 5.
Six other environmentalists from across the world were also presented with the award at a private reception hosted by the President of French Senate, Jean Pierre Bel.
The three-day Green Games Congress is an ambitious project aimed at educating and raising awareness around environmental issues among children aged between 6 and 12 by engaging them in a series of educational challenges around the world.
The goal is to inspire children to follow new heroes of the environment, termed as the 'Guardian Angels of the Planet', by providing them with necessary resources to become agents for the environment.
The Green Games were officially launched at the UNESCO building in Paris today in the presence of around 20 Guardian Angels of the Planet including Sylvia Earle, the first woman aquanaut; George Schaller, considered to be the father of wildlife conservation; Jean-Michel Cousteau and philosopher Sheri Xiaoyi Liao.