Malala Yousafzai and Kailesh Satyarthi’s 2014 Nobel Peace Prize- A victory for the struggle against child labor and the right to education for all children.
Article published in The Global Panorama - Oct 2014
In a world full of unparalleled opportunities and inequalities, we are struck with a rude awakening of the stark differences that exist for children living in different parts of the world. Thanks in part to the strong-will, perseverance, hard work and bravery of individuals such as Malala Yousafzai and Kailesh Satyarthi, abuses and injustices endured by innocent children in developing countries are brought to the forefront in an attempt to eradicate them.
Malala Yousafzai was only an eleven-year-old child when the Taliban, in their attempt to “spread Islam”, jeopardized her fundamental right to an education and threatened the procurement of education for all girls by attacking and closing down girls’ schools in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. Strongly influenced and encouraged by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, an advocate for education himself and founder of a school, Malala rose to fight the oppression by detailing the atrocities inflicted by the Taliban, in an Urdu BBC blog. It was through this blog that Malala was able to shine a limelight on the issue of education for all girls and capture worldwide attention to the ongoing injustices by the Taliban in her native home. Suffice to say, the words of wisdom by this determined eleven-year-old, proved to be too much to handle for the Taliban and they felt the need to stop the spread of her words by sending her death threats. These threats did nothing to deter Malala from continuing to advocate the right to education for all girls. However, this does beg the question of, “Does the Taliban consider the central tenets of their religion and extremism so fragile as to come tumbling down when put head-on with Malala’s simple yet so important message?” Malala grew in popularity even further when Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated her for the International Children’s Peace Prize and two months later she was awarded the first ever Pakistan’s Youth Peace Prize as a result of her important work advocating a right to education for girls.
As a consequence of her perseverance and unimpeded will to keep advocating for education, the Taliban carried out their threat against Malala and shot her in the head while she was on her way to school. Having sustained life-threatening injuries from this fatal blow, Malala first received treatment in Peshawar and was then later airlifted to the United Kingdom for further treatment. Offers of assistance in regards to Malala’s medical treatment and recovery poured in from countries around the world and this was a testament of the love that people felt for this brave, young, fourteen-year-old girl and her important cause. This pivotal incident not only emboldened Malala but also further provoked her sense of ambition. Malala now lives in the United Kingdom with her family while attending school there and she has since recovered from her attack and continues to do great work advocating education for all. On October 10th 2014, while keeping her regular routine and attending a chemistry class at school, she was taken aside by a teacher, who then informed her of the Nobel Peace Prize victory. Malala is the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize and both Malala Yousafzai and Kailesh Satyarthi’s plight has only gained in traction since winning the prestigious award. Malala is continuously committed to championing education for all girls and continues to be heavily involved in activities aimed at achieving this goal. Since Malala’s move to the United Kingdom she has been invited to speak at various high profile events such as the UN and a visit to the White House to promote and talk about her cause.
Kailesh Satyarthi was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and has had an equally paramount role in rescuing and rehabilitating children from all kinds of abuses in India. In a country where the vast majority of the population lives in poverty, it is easy to resort to the exploitation of children or to turn a blind eye on such injustices. However, Kailesh Satyarthi has stepped up to the plate to end this child abuse and has founded the Save the Children Movement. Kailesh Satyarthi and his team work with law enforcement agencies to save children from unpleasant situations such as child labor and slavery as well as other kinds of child abuse. Once these children have been rescued, they are offered shelter and a safe haven within the organization. As part of their rehabilitation, the children are schooled as well as offered courses to learn skills such as stitching, gardening and welding in order to strengthen their independence. In situations where the children were kidnapped, Satyarthi’s organization helps locate the families of these victims and reunites them. In the unfortunate circumstance entailing the involvement of family members having sold their own children in to the abuse, the children are moved to the organization’s long-term facility for further care and rehabilitation.
Both Malala Yousafzai and Kailesh Satyarthi shine brightly as a beacon of hope for a better future for children around the world. Their actions and core values bring prominence to the most basic, fundamental needs of children and fulfills a sense of optimism as to how much can be achieved by just two individuals.
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