Malala, Satyarthi Win 2014 Nobel Peace Prize

Nov 17, 2014 Samuel Foreign News 0

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The Pakistani teenager who once survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban militant group, Malala Yousafzai, was recently awarded the Prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.

The award was awarded jointly to her and an Indian advocate of education rights for children, Kailash Satyarthi, “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”

The Pakistani teenager came to Nigeria in July 2014 to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan over the release of the over 200 schoolgirls abducted by terrorists in Chibok, Borno State on April 14, 2014.

In its announcement on the award by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway, Yousafzai, now 17, became the first teenager to be awarded the prize. Satyarthi is 60 years old.

“The Nobel Committee regards 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,” a statement by the committee read.

It added that Satyarthi, 60, had maintained the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and headed various forms of peaceful protests, “focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain.”

Malala was living in Pakistan’s Swat Valley when she was shot in the head by militants in October 2012 as punishment for her high profile campaign to encourage girls to go to school.

…STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS

Just after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Pakistani activist, Malala Yousafzai urged children all over the world to fight for their rights.

She said she was “honoured” to receive the award, saying it made her feel “more powerful and courageous”.

The 17 year old was jointly awarded the prize with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child rights campaigner.

Speaking at a news conference in Birmingham, UK, where she now lives, she revealed she found out the news after being called out of her chemistry class at school.

Despite her excitement, she said she attended her afternoon lessons in physics and English.

She thanked her father for “not clipping her wings” and said she was proud to have shown that “a girl is not supposed to be a slave.”

Dedicating the award to “all those children who are voiceless,” she said: “My message to children around the world is: stand up for your rights.”

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