Showing great personal courage, Kailash Satyarthi,
maintaining 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.
Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzay has already
fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and
has shown 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 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. 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 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. |