Malala Yousafzai, the young 17-year-old peace and education reform activist, and Kailash Styarthi, a 60-year-old activist who had been running campaigns to end child trafficking, were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. The award of $1.1 million will be split equally between the two recipients.
"I'm proud that I'm the first Pakistani and the first young woman, or the first young person, who is getting this award," said Yousafzai, the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize since the creation of such a prize.
"If with my humble efforts the voice of tens of millions of children in the world who are living in servitude is being heard, congratulations to all," Satyarthi said to NDTV in India.
Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for being an outspoken activist for education reform. Since then she had been receiving global attention through the media, and has been actively campaigning for access to education all over the world. She has met with international leaders such as President Obama, and even spoke at a United Nations assembly, for global access to education.
Satyarthi had been actively fighting to end child trafficking for decades, and participated in many organizations to advocate for the cause. In 1980, he started working as the general secretary of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, which is an organization that works to free laborers that are forced to work to pay off their debts. Satyarthi also started Bachpan Bacaho Andolan (Save the Children Mission), which works to end child trafficking.
The award is of special significance because the two recipients come from two nations that have a complex history of hostility toward each other - yet they both are two of today's most active and vocal proponents of peace.
"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," said Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Nobel Committee.
Yousafzai said that she and Satyarthi have plans to work together in the future to help children, and to also help bring their two nations to come into a stronger relationship with each other.
