The Church in Pakistan has welcomed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2014 to Malala Yousafzai as "good news for all of Pakistan".
Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ National Commission for Justice and Peace also said that the move puts the issue of women’s rights and the right to education at the centre of public debate.
However Fauzia Jacob, the National Coordinator at the Catholic Women’s Organisation of Pakistan, was more sceptical. “I don’t know whether the prize will have a direct and immediate positive impact on the status of women in Pakistan” she said. “We certainly hope it will”.
At 17, Malala is the youngest ever recipient of the prize. In 2012 she was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen for campaigning for girls' education in the Swat Valley.
The Nobel Peace Prize was also awarded to Kailash Satyarthi, 60, an Indian activist for the rights of children.
Photo: Russell Watkins/DfID
Loading ...
