On the 10th of December, a very brave 17-year old girl named Malala Yousafzaihas will travel to Oslo in Norway to receive this year’s Noble peace prize, one of the most prestigious prices in the world. She is the youngest Nobel Laureate ever.
Malala comes from Pakistan in the Middle East, and she first got known in 2009, when she was only age 11 years old. It was when BBC posted an article about her life under the extremist Taliban movement, which does not allow girls to get a proper education. In 2012 she got shot in the head by someone in the Taliban, who had banned books from the schools because they think books could be a “bad influence” on the children.
Malala recovered from her injuries and has since then worked hard for girls’ rights to go to school. She has travelled around to hold talks, and she has written a book. But most of all, she has given courage to other children to demand a life of learning.
When Malala receives the Nobel price in December, she will become part of a very exclusive group of famous people who have gotten this prize before. Previous winners include the American president Barack Obama, and Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, who both fought for the rights of black people. The prize (a golden medal and a sum of money) will be handed to Malala during a ceremony in Oslo, where the Norwegian king Harald V will be present, and a banquette will be given to her honour.
The name Nobel prize comes Alfred Nobel, a Swedish man who lived a bit more than one hundred years ago, and who invented dynamite. He earned a lot of money from his businesses and wanted to reward people who had done something good for society. When he died in 1896 he left a will which said a prize should be given in five different disciplines; medicine, chemistry, physics, work for peace, and literature. Since 1969 there is also an extra medal for economics, which the Swedish Central bank has added “in the memory of Alfred Nobel”. All prizes except Malala’s are given out by the Swedish king Carl XVI Gustaf in Stockholm, on 10th of December.
By Freddie