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Nobel Peace Prize winners lauded for risking their lives for children’s rights

OSLO — Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Mr Kailash Satyarthi of India yesterday received the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives to fight for children’s rights.

OSLO — Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Mr Kailash Satyarthi of India yesterday received the Nobel Peace Prize for risking their lives to fight for children’s rights.

Seventeen-year-old Malala, the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever, and Mr Satyarthi, 60, collected the award at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital to a standing ovation.

Saying that all children have a right to childhood and education instead of forced labour, Nobel committee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland said “this world conscience can find no better expression” than through this year’s winners.

In his speech to the gathering, Mr Jagland related how Malala was shot by Taliban gunmen two years ago and said Islamic extremist groups dislike knowledge because it is a condition for freedom.

“Attendance at school, especially by girls, deprives such forces of power,” he said.

He mentioned Mr Satyarthi’s vision of ending child labour and how he abandoned a career as an electrical engineer in 1980 to fight for that vision.

In his speech, Mr Satyarthi said he was “representing the sound of silence” and the “millions of those children who are left behind”.

He said he had kept an empty chair at the ceremony as a reminder of the children without a voice.

“There is no greater violence than to deny the dreams of our children,” he said. “I refuse to accept that the shackles of slavery can ever be stronger than the quest for freedom,” he added, to applause.

Perhaps the biggest ovation of the ceremony was reserved for Malala, who started her emotional speech on a lighter tone. “I am very proud to be the first Pashtun, the first Pakistani and the first young person to receive this award,” she said.

“I am pretty certain I am also the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who still fights with her younger brothers. I want there to be peace everywhere, but my brothers and I are still working on that.”

Soon though, the seriousness of her mission to ensure all children around the world, not only girls, receive a quality education was brought home to the audience.

Malala recounted the story of one of her school friends who had been forced into marriage at the age of 12 and who had dreamt of becoming a doctor.

“But her dream remained a dream,” said Malala, because her friend soon had a child at the age when “she herself was a child (at) only 14”. “I know my friend would have been a very good doctor. But she couldn’t ... because she was a girl.

“My great hope is that this will be the last time we must fight for the education of our children,” Malala said. “We want everyone to unite to support us in our campaign so we can solve this once and for all.”

She added that “it is not time to tell the leaders (of the world) to realise how important education is — they already know it (as) their children are in good schools”. “Now, it is time to call them to take action. We ask the world leaders to unite and make education their top priority.

“I call upon my fellow children to stand up around the world. Dear sisters and brothers, let us become the first generation to decide to be the last. The empty classrooms, the lost childhoods, wasted potential — let these things end with us.” AGENCIES

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