Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi have won the Nobel Peace Prize.
At 17, Malala is the youngest recipient of the prize.
The teenager was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen in October 2012 for campaigning for girls’ education.
The Nobel committee said the pair were awarded the £690,000 prize “for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people”.
After being shot Malala was airlifted to Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham, where she was treated for life-threatening injuries.
She has since continued to campaign for girls’ education, speaking before the UN, meeting Barack Obama, being named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and last year publishing her memoir.
Last month a gang of 10 Taliban fighters who tried to kill her were arrested, the Pakistan army claimed.
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In a statement, the Nobel committee said: “Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai 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
“This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education.”
But while Malala is wildly popular with the Western media she seems to be far less popular in her home country, Pakistan, and among many Muslims worldwide who believe she has been exploited for the purposes of Western propaganda.
