The Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 was awarded to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai for their advocacy for children’s rights.

Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai were picked as winners for their struggle against the oppression of children and their right to education. Photograph: Reuters (Source Guardian.com)

Here is background information about Mr. Satyarthi and Miss Yousafzai from the New York Times, “In India, Mr. Satyarthi, a former engineer, has long been associated with the struggle to free bonded laborers, some born into their condition and others lured into servitude. For decades, he has sought to rid India of child slavery and has liberated more than 75,000 bonded and child laborers in the country.  Mr. Satyarthi began working for children’s rights in 1980 as the general secretary of the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, an organization dedicated to freeing bonded laborers forced to work to pay off debts, real or imagined. He also founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or Save the Children Mission, an organization dedicated to ending bonded labor and saving children from trafficking. ” (http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/10/nobel-peace-prize-awarded-to-defenders-of-childrens-rights/)

“Ms. Yousafzai began campaigning for girls’ education at the age of 11, three years before she was shot by the Taliban. She was so young that some observers questioned how well equipped a child of that age could be to put her own safety on the line and commit to a life of activism. The prize she received on Friday validates what she has taken on, but also underscores the disproportionate expectations that trail her: Can she truly influence the culture of her home country of Pakistan, which she cannot even visit because of threats to her safety, and where many revile her as a tool of the West? Ms. Yousafzai may be an Anne Frank-like figure who defied terror, showed extraordinary courage and inspires hope, but how much can one teenager accomplish?” (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/world/asia/malala-yousafzai-youngest-nobel-peace-prize-winner-adds-to-her-achievements-and-expectations.html)

 The library has a copy of Malala Yousafzai’s inspiring memoir available for checkout:  LC 2330 .Y69 2013

Book Cover photo: www.hachettebookgroup.com

For further reading, photos, and videos:

Nobel Announcement
Washington Post
The Guardian