Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work for children's rights, the Associated Press reported.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the two "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education."
Malala, 17, is the youngest ever winner of a Nobel Prize. A schoolgirl and education campaigner in Pakistan, she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago.
Malala was barely 11 years old when she began championing girls' education, speaking out in TV interviews. The Taliban had overrun her home town of Mingora, terrorizing residents, threatening to blow up girls' schools, ordering teachers and students into the all-encompassing burqas.
She was critically injured on Oct. 9, 2012, when a Taliban gunman boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. She survived through luck - the bullet did not enter her brain - and by the quick intervention of British doctors who were visiting Pakistan.
Flown to Britain for specialist treatment at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, she underwent numerous surgeries, but made a strong recovery.
Malala currently lives with her father, mother and two brothers in the English city of Birmingham, attending a local school. She has been showered with human rights prizes, including the European Parliament's Sakharov Award.
She started at her school in the city in March last year.