Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi are winners of the Nobel Peace Prize 2014
Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian children right’s campaigner Kailash Satyarthi, have both won the Nobel Peace Prize 2014.
The two winners of the £690,000 (8m kronor or $1.11m) prize were announced by chairman of the award committee, former Norwegian Prime Minister, Thorbjoern Jagland.
17-year-old-girl Malala rose to global prominence after being shot by Taliban gunmen on a school bus in Pakistan. This was in retaliation for speaking up against the Taliban banning the education of girls in Pakistan.
After being treated for her injuries in the UK, Malala has since continued her campaign around the globe. So far she has met world leaders and even spoke at distinguished forums such as Harvard University and The United Nations.
As the youngest winner of the prestigious prize she has been praised for her “heroic struggle” for a girl’s right to education.
The Nobel Committee released a statement saying, “Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations.”
Fellow winner Kailash Satyarthi has worked extensively to stop child labour in India since the 1990s. His organisation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, has helped free over 80,000 children from bondages of slavery and helped reintegrate them into education and rehabilitation.
The committee likened Satyarthi’s effort to that of Mahatma Gandhi’s, “Showing great personal courage, Kailash Satyarthi, maintaining Gandhi’s tradition, has headed various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain. He has also contributed to the development of important international conventions on children’s rights.”
They added it was important to recognise the work of people of their background, “…it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism”.
Other nominees included US whistleblower Edward Snowden, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis.
