I am thankful to the Nobel committee for recognising the plight of millions of children who are suffering in this modern age.

I am representing here - the sound of silence. The cry of innocence. And, the face of invisibility. I represent millions of those children who are left behind, and that's why I have kept an empty chair here as a reminder.

I am really honoured, but if the prize had gone to Mahatma Gandhi before me, I would have been more honoured.

At about an age when most children start full time schooling, hundreds of thousands of their contemporaries start a lifetime of drudgery in factories and fields, working 12-16 hours daily.

Let us unite the world through the compassion for our children.

I have come here only to share the voices and dreams of our children - because they are all our children.