Malala Yousafzai, Kailash Satyarthi share Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, activists for children's rights, shared the Nobel Peace Prize Wednesday at an Oslo, Norway, ceremony.

"We need people like Satyarthi and Yousafzai to show that it helps to fight," said Thorbjorn Jagland of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. Dignitaries from around the world, royalty, political leaders and some of Yousafzai's teenage friends were present, and stood to offer sustained applause when the prizes were awarded.

Yousafzai, better known by her first name, became, at 17, the youngest Nobelist in history. Her activism in seeking girls' access to education nearly killed her; Taliban militants in her native Pakistan shot her in the head two years ago, an incident inadvertently calling her, and her mission, to the world's attention.

Satyarthi, 60, from India, has committed his life to end the exploitation of children by raising consumer awareness of the issues involving global trade as it pertains to child labor as a human rights issue.

The acceptance speech by Satyarthi, speaking first after receiving the award, was a stirring call to action, ending with, "Let us march from darkness to light. Let us march from mortality to divinity. Let us march."

The speech by Malala, who continued to attend school in 2003 after her region of Pakistan was overrun by Taliban militants who banned educating girls, was equally passionate. She concluded her address by saying, "Let this be the last time that a girl or a boy spends their childhood in a factory. We are living in modern age where we believe nothing is impossible; we must be able to give every child quality education."