Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai, and Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child rights campaigner, have jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the days leading up to today’s announcement, Pope Francis was the bookies’ favourite to win the famous prize, with Paddy Power giving him odds of 9/4.
At the age of just 17, Malala is the youngest ever recipient of the prize, the BBC reports. The teenager was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in October 2012 for campaigning for girls’ education. She now lives in Birmingham in the UK.
Malala said she was “honoured” to receive the award, saying it made her feel “more powerful and courageous”. She added: “I’m really happy to be sharing this award with a person from India.”
The Nobel committee praised the pair’s “struggle against the suppression of children and young people”.
Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, established in 1901, include Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Dalai Lama and Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu.
In 2001, Gunnar Staalseth, a member of the Nobel committee, said that no pope would win the award until the Church changed its teaching on contraception, which he claimed “favours life rather than death”.
