Malala Becomes Youngest, 16th Female Nobel Prize Winner

Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights campaigner, Kailash Satyarthi, have jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize. The duo is the 95th Nobel Peace Prize winners and Malala’s win takes the number of women on the list to 16 out of 95.

Satyarthi and Yousafzai were picked for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.

At the age of just 17, Malala is the youngest ever recipient of the prize, eclipsing Australian-born British scientist, Lawrence Bragg, who was 25 when he shared the Physics Prize with his father in 1915.

Malala who was in Nigeria a few months ago to join advocacy for the release of the over 200 school girls abducted from their school in Chibok, Borno State, was tipped to win last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The two South Asian activists beat other notable personalities including Pope Francis and American whistleblower Edward Snowden who were the favourites this year to win the coveted honour. The winners this year were selected from a list of 278 nominees, the highest number of candidates ever. The list included 47 organisations, the Nobel committee said. The previous record was 259 in 2013.

This year’s prize is likely to be seen as an uncontroversial choice from a Norwegian Nobel committee which has not shied away from controversy in recent years, says the BBC’s Lars Bevanger in Oslo. Norway’s relations with China are still suffering after a Chinese dissident won the peace prize in 2010, he said.

The Nobel Peace prize, worth about $1.1 million (approximately N176 million), will be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the famous award in his 1895 will.

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