Thus year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to two very deserving people who have championed the issue of education for young people, especially girls. One, Malala Yousafzai , is the youngest ever winner of the Peace Prize or, indeed, any Nobel prize. The other, Kailash Satyarfi, is more in keeping with the normal age of Nobel Laureates,
Malala made her mark by defying the Taliban by not only seeking an education, but posting a popular blog about it. She was shot in the head at the age of 14 by the Taliban as a result, and has continued her education in England, working in a major address to the United Nations. She has been widely praised in her nation, and widely criticized. I have been thoroughly charmed by her since first hearing of her. She has established herself as an outspoken champion for the issue of education for young people, especially girls.
Kailash is perhaps the current world leader in the movement to end child labor, an issue that the United States has been a leader in for almost a century, even though there is still a significant pool of people on the right wing in America advocating for child exploitation. He has also advocated for childhood education as part of his vision.
Kailash and Malala contacted each other shortly after learning of the award, and are planning to work together for their cause. I can only add my feeble voice to the chorus of support for their cause. They agreed to ask the prime ministers of their nations to attend the ceremony and make a gesture for peace and co-operation between their nations. This is part of the reason the Nobel committee chose to honor them jointly.
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