The Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced that Kailash Satyarthi, 2002 recipient of the Wallenberg Medal, is co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Malala Yousafzay. They have received the Peace Prize in recognition of “their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.” From the text of the Nobel Committee announcement:
Showing great personal courage, Kailash Satyarthi, maintaining Gandhi’s tradition, has headed various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain. He has also contributed to the development of important international conventions on children’s rights.
Satyarthi was awarded the Wallenberg Medal for his tireless struggle for the abolition of child labor in India. He has emancipated thousands of children from bonded labor, a form of modern forced labor. As head of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, Satyarthi has risked his life rescuing children and women from overcrowded, filthy and dangerous factories where conditions are deplorable. Trained as an engineer, Satyarthi gave up a lucrative career to organize and speak out in defense of millions of young children who have never seen the inside of a classroom and are consigned to virtual slavery in the workplace. In receiving the Wallenberg Medal from President Mary Sue Coleman, Satyarthi said: “It’s not an honor to me alone. You are honoring the world’s most vulnerable children—250 million children—voiceless, nameless, faceless.”
