She “has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations,” Mr. Jagland said. “This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle, she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education.”
She was awarded the Nobel Prize along with Kailash Satyarthi, a Indian children’s rights activist.
I’m not a big fan of the Nobel Peace Prize because it is usually used to support nefarious political agendas (remember Gandhi, Hitler and Stalin being nominated? Remember Kissinger, the Dalai Lama, Teresa of Calcutta and Rigoberta Menchú actually getting it?). At this point, I don’t think there’s a single person in the world who understands why it was awarded to Barack Obama. Anyway, this is not supposed to be a rant.
I’m happy about Malala Yousafzai getting the Nobel Peace Prize because hers is a political agenda that might actually help improve the lives of everyone in Pakistan. Getting women to study is giving them the tools to free themselves from superstition, giving them opportunities to question the status quo and letting them think for themselves.
Women should have agency over their own lives (just like everyone else) and I’m confident this is, not only the way to achieve that, but also one of the necessary steps to actually bring about peace.
And I’m glad the Nobel Committee found the guts to take a stand against Taliban thugs — was it so hard to find an actual worthy political cause?
(Image: United Nations Information Centres via photopin cc)
