UN child rights committee hails Nobel Peace prize award as boost for children’s rights

GENEVA (10 October 2014) - The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has hailed the decision to award the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize jointly to Pakistani children’s education activist Malala Yousafzai and Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. Committee Chair Kirsten Sandberg made the following statement:

“The two laureates have made a huge contribution to campaigning for children’s rights, for the right to an education and to not be exploited and forced into servitude.  This also demonstrates that children have a voice and can produce innovative solutions to the challenges facing them. 

“The decision by the Nobel Committee to recognise their work is particularly significant, coming as it does in the 25th anniversary year of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“The Convention is the mostly widely ratified UN human rights treaty with 194 signatories. We hope the recognition given to Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai will help to raise the profile of children’s rights and give added impetus to the efforts of all to make the rights of the child enshrined in the Convention a reality for all children.”

ENDS

BACKGROUND:

The Committee on the Rights of the Child is composed of 18 independent human rights experts and it reviews the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by States parties. 

To learn more about the Committee on the Rights of the Child, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRC/Pages/CRCIndex.aspx

For more information and media enquiries, please contact Liz Throssell (+41 (0) 22 917 9466/ ethrossell@ohchr.org