The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winners were announced this morning by Thorbjørn Jagland, Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. Winners are Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzay "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education."
The struggle for the rights of children is mentioned specifically in Alfred Nobel's will.
After the announcement, the floor was opened for questions. A member of the audience asked the committee why they are giving the prize to someone with "aspirations," but someone who has not actually achieved their goal yet. The audience member referred to present winner, Malala Yousafzai, as well as past winner U.S. President Barack Obama. Jagland attempted to explain the committee's reasoning for a while, then a voice off camera ended the argument by saying, "We're not having a debate here. This is a press conference."
The winners have not made any statements together, according to the committee, but they awarded the prize to both because of their similar missions. The Jagland made it a point to echo the press release by the Nobel Prize committee, which stated, "The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism."
According to the press release, 168 million child laborers world-wide. In 2000, it was 78 million higher.
For the final question, an audience member asked if Kailash Satyarthi is being commended for maintaining Gandhi's tradition and whether this is a way to posthumously acknowledge Gandhi, who never was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
"It's not a compensation for the fact that Mahātmā Gandhi never got the prize. I don't know why he didn't get the prize, but we should then appreciate that the one that is taking up his tradition got the prize," Jagland replied.
That concludes the prizes allotted by Nobel himself, but The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel will be announced on Monday, Oct. 13 no earlier than 7 a.m. EST.
