Stavanger, Norway: Children's rights activists Malala Yousafzai, 17, from Pakistan, and Kailash Satyarthi, 60, from India. The two were honoured for campaigning for the rights of children and young people, particularly their right to education.
Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago after refusing to heed the extremist group's ban on girls going to school. Her persistence in continuing to study and to promote educational rights for girls have won her wide recognition and several awards, including the 2013 Clinton Global Citizen Awards and the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Satyarthi has focused on abolishing child labor and other forms of exploitation, maintaining the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi, 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.
SIGNIFICANCE
The Nobel Committee said the winners "give young people hope" and that it considered the award to a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to be strong support for the common struggle for education and against extremism.
