Oslo: The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 to India’s Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.”
“Children must go to school and not be financially exploited. In the poor countries of the world, 60 per cent of the present population is under 25 years of age. It is a prerequisite for peaceful global development that the rights of children and young people be respected. In conflict-ridden areas in particular, the violation of children leads to the continuation of violence from generation to generation,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee opined.
Kailash Satyarthi has been declared as the Nobel prize recipient for showing great personal courage. The committee said that Satyarthi maintained Mahatma 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,” the committee said.
On the other hand, Malala Yousafzai has been awarded for having fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and showing by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations. “This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education,” the committee said.
The Nobel Committee also said that it is 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. “Many other individuals and institutions in the international community have also contributed. It has been calculated that there are 168 million child labourers around the world today. In 2000 the figure was 78 million higher. The world has come closer to the goal of eliminating child labour,” the committee said.
“The struggle against suppression and for the rights of children and adolescents contributes to the realization of the “fraternity between nations” that Alfred Nobel mentions in his will as one of the criteria for the Nobel Peace Prize,” the committee said.
A human rights activist, Kailash Satyarthi has been at the forefront of a movement in India to end child slavery and exploitative child labour since 1980. Satyarthi has helped free children from slave-labor conditions and advocated for reforms, as director of the South Asia Coalition on Child Servitude and leader of Bachpan Bachao Andolan. In 1994, he founded a group now known as Goodweave, which certifies child-labor-free rugs and provides assistance to rescued and at-risk children
Satyarthi has also played an important role in linking the fight against child labor with the efforts for achieving ‘Education for All’.
The Nobel Laureate is a member of a high level group formed by UNESCO on Education for all comprising of select Presidents, Prime Ministers and UN Agency Heads.
Kailash Satyarthi has survived numerous attacks on his life during his crusade to end child labour, the most recent being the attack on him and his colleagues while rescuing child slaves from garment sweatshops in Delhi on 17 March 2011.
In 2004 while rescuing children from a local circus mafia, Kailash Satyarthi and his colleagues were brutally attacked. Despite of these attacks and his office being ransacked a number of times his commitment for the cause has been unwavering.
Satyarthi has been honoured by the Former US President Bill Clinton in Washington for featuring in Kerry Kennedy’s Book ‘Speak Truth to Power’, where his life and work featured among the top 50 human rights defenders in the world.
Wikipedia states that Satyarthi has been the subject of a number of documentaries, television series, talk shows, advocacy and awareness films.
He has also won many international awards, including:
· 2014: Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Malala Yousafzai
· 2009: Defenders of Democracy Award (US)
· 2008: Alfonso Comin International Award (Spain)
· 2007: Medal of the Italian Senate (2007)
· 2007: recognized in the list of “Heroes Acting to End Modern Day Slavery” by the US State Department[3]
· 2006: Freedom Award (US)
· 2002: Wallenberg Medal, awarded by the University of Michigan[4]
· 1999: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Award (Germany)[5]
· 1995: Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award (US)[6]
· 1985: The Trumpeter Award (US)
· 1984: The Aachener International Peace Award (Germany)
