THE NOBEL PEACE Prize has been awarded to Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India.
The Nobel committee said the the two were given the award “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”.
17-year-old Malala, who was shot by the Taliban and has fought for education rights for children, is the youngest ever winner of the prize. The average age of Nobel Peace Laureates is 61; prior to this, the youngest winner was 32 years old.
Malala became a global ambassador for the right of all children to go to school and get an education after being shot at point-blank range by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 for speaking out against them.
Kailash Satyarthi, 60, was praised by the committee for heading “peaceful demonstrations focusing on grave exploitation of children for financial gain”.
There were 278 nominations for the prize this year – the highest number ever – including 47 organisations.
A total of 101 individuals and 25 organisations have won the prize since it was first handed out in 1901.
The prize is awarded by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian parliament and is given to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
Winners from the past decade:
2013: Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
2012: European Union
2011: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman
2010: Liu Xiaobo
2009: Barack Obama
2008: Martti Ahtisaari
2007: Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
2006: Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank
2005: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Mohamed El Baradei
2004: Wangari Muta Maathai
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