Ukraine in Arabic | Pakistan and India to get the Nobel Peace Prize
Ukraine in Arabic/ Two activists (from two rival countries) who fight for the rights of children everywhere will share the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, long considered a top favorite for the Prize, will receive this year's award along with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian activist who has been credited with saving tens of thousands of children from slavery and forced labor.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the two "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.''
Awarding the prize, the committee said that peaceful global development could only come about if children and the young are respected.
Malala, 17, is the youngest person to be awarded the prestigious honor. She was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after campaigning for more access to education for girls and has since become recognizable worldwide.
Speaking to reporters following the announcement, Yousafzai said she was "honored to be awarded the prize."
"This is not the end of my campaign, but the beginning," she said.
Satyarthi, 60, has maintained the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and headed various forms of peaceful protests, "focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain," the Nobel committee said.
He has led the rescue of tens of thousands of child slaves and developed a successful model for their education and rehabilitation.
Reacting to his award shortly after it was announced, Satyarthi told that he was very thankful to the Nobel committee and that this recognition "is the recognition of many voices of children who are victims of servitude, not just in India but the across the world".
He said that it was an honour for his country, and he hoped the award would encourage the Indian government to pay more attention to the plight of children who are forced to work.
Extremism struggle
"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," the committee said during Friday's announcement in Norway's capital, Oslo.
"Children must go to school and not be financially exploited," it said.
"In conflict-ridden areas in particular, the violation of children leads to the continuation of violence from generation to generation."
The Nobel Prizes in medicine, chemistry, physics and literature were announced earlier this week. The economics award will be announced on Monday.
All the awards will be formally handed out on December 10 in Oslo.
