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Malala Yousafzai, 2013 Sakharov Prize winner

10.10.2013 9:22

The European Parliament's Conference of Presidents decided to award this year's Sakharov prize to Malala Yousafzai, who fought for the right of education and freedom for women in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

Our hope for a better future stands in young people like Malala Yousafzai

Commenting on the decision the Chairman of the EPP Group, Joseph Daul, said: “Today, we decided to let the world know that our hope for a better future stands in young people like Malala Yousafzai. For most of us, education is the key to opening the Universe. While we take it for granted, she took a bullet for defending it. Malala personifies the fight for education for girls in areas where respect for women and their basic rights are completely ignored. She is an icon of courage for all teenagers who dare to pursue their aspirations and, like a candle, she lights a path out of darkness. Tomorrow, I hope that she will win the Nobel Peace Prize because she fully deserves it.”

Note to editors

The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 275 Members from 27 Member States.

<p>The EPP Group nominated the Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai for the 2013 Sakharov Prize, which honours exceptional individuals who combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression.</p> <p>Malala Yousafzai first came to public attention in 2009 with her anonymous blogs about life under the Taliban. Three years later, in October 2012, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman because of her campaign for girls' education. She survived and underwent a series of delicate operations. She was already well known in Pakistan, but that one shocking act catapulted her to international fame. Malala has been credited with bringing the issue of women's education to global attention. A quarter of young women around the world have not completed primary school, which only helps to perpetuate the cycle of poverty around the world.</p>