Malala Nominated for ‘Children’s Nobel’
Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban, has been nominated for the World Children’s Prize for championing education rights for girls.
The 16-year-old, who now lives in Britain following extensive medical treatment, was shot by a Taliban gunman in 2012 over her outspoken views on education in her hometown, Swat in Khyber Pashtunkhwa region.
Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai
Malala’s father, Zia Uddin Yousafzai, said in an interview with the VOA Urdu service that “we need to invest our energies and resources in educating our new generation. An educated youth can give us a better tomorrow so that we get rid of extremism and terrorism and live peaceful life on our homeland.”
The World Children’s Prize – also known as the “Children’s Nobel Prize” – was founded in 2000 and aims to raise awareness of children’s rights in 60,000 schools in 110 countries through educational programs which include studying champions of human rights and voting for the prize winners.
The two other nominees for this year’s award are John Wood, founder of the U.S.-based education charity Room to Read, and Indira Ramanagar, who helps the children of prisoners in Nepal.
The prize will be awarded in Stockholm in October.