IBAS Children’s Champions Award 2026

Last year, news about the contamination of children’s toys in New Zealand and Australia reverberated around the world.

Following the discoveries, campaigners in other countries began to look more closely at their supply chains and question whether children’s toys in their countries were similarly contaminated.

CAP also raised the same alert in Malaysia. We wrote to the Malaysian authorities to conduct market survey and recall asbestos-contaminated toy sand.

The discoveries which led to the global alert were the result of deliberate actions taken by asbestos assessors and analysts, academics, parents and environmental and compliance experts.

All of the people and organisations were “accidental activists” who were drawn into a critical situation not of their making. Acting individually and collectively they demanded answers and explanations about sales of potentially damaging children’s products in New Zealand and Australia.

A coalition of civil society groups representing asbestos victims, occupational health and safety campaigners and medical experts from Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australasia has announced them as the winners of The International Ban Asbestos Secretariat (IBAS) Children’s Champions.

For their unstinting efforts to protect children at home and abroad, grassroots groups from

around the world – including Consumers Association of Penang – acknowledge the debt that is owed to:

• Elle Chrisp and David Dingwall
• Benjamin Alford
•Terri-Ann Berry and the team at Environmental Innovation Center
• Michael Shepherd and the COHLABS team
• Asbestos Still Kills Podcast (ASK)
• Robert McAllister, Jason Milner and the Faculty of Asbestos Management Australia and New Zealand (FAMANZ)

Expressing her feelings about the significance of this recognition, IBAS Coordinator Laurie Kazan Allen said: “According to the most recent information, asbestos-contaminated toys have been recalled in 35 countries.

“These recalls would not have happened without the research and actions taken by the people and groups named above to uncover the truth about the contamination of the ‘magic sand’ and its ability to generate fibers through playtime activities.

“Wherever these toxic items were used, the lives of the children who played with them were jeopardized as were those of the school staff and relatives who supervised them as well as others who visited unremediated schools and homes.”

Read more in the press release below, which is also supported by CAP.

https://ibasecretariat.org/press-release-children-s…

For more information regarding on the matter, check out the full report at: https://ibasecretariat.org/lka-ibas-children-s-champions…