Brussels, 20/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 20 November, European Parliament President Martin Schulz awarded the Sakharov Prize 2013 to the young Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai, for her fight for education, describing her as an “absolutely exceptional young woman”. “You are a global icon, a symbol of resistance to fanaticism, with your commitment you have launched a global movement for children's rights, you have touched us profoundly with your courage, your wisdom, your humility and this is only the beginning of your extraordinary existence, I am sure that we are going to hear a lot more about you”, he said. And on Universal Children's Day, Schulz stressed that education is a fundamental right.
Malala Yousafzai described the prize as “encouragement in my fight, which I intend to continue”. Although poverty, sexual violence, a lack of freedom and terrorism are a part of reality, the 16-year-old stressed that “hope exists”. “If hope exists, it is because we are brought together here, united, to fight in the interests of these innocent children, to save them, defend them and decide to act”, she said, calling on the European countries to help the countries of Asia, particularly Pakistan, in matters of education and development. “Our young people need to be educated, to be able to have a job and change our country's destiny. Everybody's survival depends on defending the weakest (…). By standing united, we can achieve this objective, help these 57 million children (who are unschooled). They don't need smart phones, tablets or video games, just a book and a pencil”.
Malala called for a change of ideology, adding that the most important thing is not military might, but “quite the reverse: we have to see countries in which the population is well educated, where the citizens are capable of taking their own destiny in hand”. “A country in which the population is educated and emancipated is genuinely a power, not the countries with the most soldiers and weapons; let us change our way of looking at things”, she urged.
21 former winners of the Sakharov Prize attended the ceremony and celebrated the 25th anniversary of the prize. (CG/transl.fl)