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Nobel Peace Prize for Tunisian democracy group

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National Dialogue Quartet made “decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia”, jury says.

Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet

by Al Jazeera

The Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet – a democracy group – has been awarded the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize for “its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee has announced.

The group of four organisations established “an alternative, peaceful political process at a time when the country was on the brink of civil war,” the Committee said on Friday, referring to the period following Tunisia’s 2011 revolution.

The National Dialogue Quartet is made up of four key organisations in Tunisian civil society: the Tunisian General Labour Union; the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts; the Tunisian Human Rights League; and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.

The jury cited the group for “its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011”.

“The Nobel Peace Prize for 2015 is awarded to this Quartet, not to the four individual organisations as such,” the committee said.

The laureates will receive their prizes at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of prize creator Alfred Nobel, a Swedish philanthropist and scientist.

Reaction

A Tunisian union leader who played a key role in democracy-building that won the Nobel Peace Prize says he was “overwhelmed” by the gesture.

Houcine Abassi, secretary general of the UGTT union, told the AP news agency on Friday: “It’s a prize that crowns more than two years of efforts deployed by the quartet when the country was in danger on all fronts.”

“I am happy,” he said, adding that the quartet members were not expecting the prize.

He described how the UGTT, a human rights group, a trade group and a lawyers group joined together to try to “bring the country out of crisis.”

Al Jazeera’s Nazanine Moshiri, reporting from Tunisia, said: “[It’s] very symbolic for many Tunisians who see this as really a symbol of hope for the country which is going through another crisis.”

Tunisia’s young and still shaky democracy suffered two attacks this year that killed 60 people and devastated the tourism industry.

“More than anything, the prize is intended as an encouragement to the Tunisian people, who despite major challenges have laid the groundwork for a national fraternity which the committee hopes will serve as an example to be followed by other countries,” the committee said.

The committee said the prize was also intended as an encouragement to other countries to follow in Tunisia’s footsteps.

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee hopes that this year’s prize will contribute towards safeguarding democracy in Tunisia and be an inspiration to all those who seek to promote peace and democracy in the Middle East, North Africa and the rest of the world,” it said.

Tunisian Tourism Minister:

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy:

The United Nations:

Parliament should pass strong anti-child labour law: Kailash Satyarthi

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kailash-satyarthi

New Delhi: On the occasion of Children’s Day Friday, Nobel laureate and child rights crusader Kailash Satyarthi urged parliament to pass a strong anti-child labour law in the upcoming session.

“I urge parliament to pass a strong anti-child labour law in the upcoming session as this has been pending for nearly two years,” Satyarthi appealed in a statement.

“I demand complete ban on all forms of child labour bringing the law in sync with Right to Education Act. I further demand prohibition of employment of children between 14-18 years in hazardous occupations and processes.

“Rehabilitation should be made an integral part of the legislation,” Satyarthi said.

Questioning the celebrations when “millions of children” are still working as labourers, Satyarthi said India needed to act immediately.

“While the nation is celebrating Children’s Day, millions of children are compelled to languish in various forms of labour from farms to mines and factories to homes. Their innocence, freedom and future are getting robbed and education denied,” he said.

“Unless they are brought back to the classrooms, any celebration is incomplete. A proud and progressive India has to act now,” he added.

Satyarthi along with Pakistan’s Malala Yousufzai won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

(IANS)

Nobel Peace Prize for an Indian and Pakistani does have to do with global politics: Arundhati Roy

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On the Lauran Flanders show, Arundhati Roy was asked her views on the Nobel peace prize:

Arundhati Roy:

“Look, it’s a difficult thing to talk about because Malala is a brave girl and I think she has now started speaking out against US invasions and bombings that are going on.

“But certainly… as an individual, it is very difficult to resist great powers trying to co-opt you and, trying to use you in certain ways, and she’s only a kid, you know, and she cannot be faulted at all for what she did, but certainly the great game is going on, you know.

“And, of course, the idea of an Indian and a Pakistani being given…sharing the Nobel prize does have to do with global politics and it does have to do with the fact that until the 1990s, Pakistan and America were allies. Now, with all the trouble in Pakistan, the US is trying to step back from that marsh and look for firmer ground, in India.

“So we are at the receiving end of the kiss of death, if you like, and so both the begums now, Pakistan and India, have to be in the sheikh’s harem. You know, they have to be both be…

“I am not…this should not be taken as if I am criticising the individuals at all, but when the great game is at play, then they pick out people…all of us, I am aware of… at least you have to be aware of it…”

Nobel Prize for Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, signal to India and Pakistan to make peace?

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Nobel Peace Prize

Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls’ right to education, and Indian children’s right activist Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

Malala, aged 17, becomes the youngest Nobel Prize winner by far, and is the second Pakistani to win it, after Physicist Dr. Abdus Salam, who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contribution to electroweak unification.

Satyarthi, 60, and Yousafzai were picked for their struggle against the oppression of children and young people, and for the right of all children to education, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

“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,” said Thorbjoern Jagland, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Yousafzai was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after campaigning for more access to education for girls and has since become recognisable worldwide.

Unable to return to Pakistan after her recovery, Yousafzai moved to Britain, setting up the Malala Fund and supporting local education advocacy groups with a focus on Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, Syria and Kenya.

Satyarthi, who gave up a career as an electrical engineer in 1980 to campaign against child labour, has headed various forms of peaceful protests and demonstrations, focusing on the exploitation of children for financial gain.

“It’s an honour to all those children still suffering in slavery, bonded labour and trafficking,” Satyarthi told CNN-IBN after learning he won the prize.

In a recent editorial, Satyarthi said that data from non-government organizations indicated that child labourers could number 60 million in India or 6 percent of the total population.

“Children are employed not just because of parental poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, failure of development and education programmes, but quite essentially due to the fact that employers benefit immensely from child labour as children come across as the cheapest option, sometimes working even for free,” he wrote.

Children are employed illegally and companies use the financial gain to bribe officials, creating a vicious cycle, he argued.

Yousafzai last year addressed the U.N. Youth Assembly in an event Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called “Malala Day”. This year she travelled to Nigeria to demand the release of 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

“To the girls of Nigeria and across Africa, and all over the world, I want to say: don’t let anyone tell you that you are weaker than or less than anything,” she said in a speech.

“You are not less than a boy,” Yousafzai said. “You are not less than a child from a richer or more powerful country. You are the future of your country. You are going to build it strong. It is you who can lead the charge.”

The award comes at a time when hostilies have broken out between India and Pakistan and the recongnition is being seen as a highly symbolic push to end a decades-old rivalry between the two nuclear-armed coutries.

Signalling a larger intent behind jointly awarding the prize, the Nobel Committee said it “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.”

For her part, Malala did not miss the significance of the moment, paying tribute to her co-winner anti-child labour activist Satyarthi and inviting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to celebrate their joint win.

(With input from agencies)

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