Who is Kailash Satyarthi: Facts you should know

New Delhi: Indian child rights activist Kailash Satyarthi has won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014, it was announced on Friday. Satyarthi shares the coveted prize with Pakistani teenager Malala Yousufzai.

Here are a few important facts about Satyarthi you should know:

1. Kailash Satyarthi has been awarded Nobel Peace Prize for his “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education".
2. Satyarthi has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize many times in the past for his his relentless crusade for defending child rights.
3. He is the first India-born person to have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and the seventh Indian Nobel laureate. Mother Teresa, who was born in Albania, was the first Indian Nobel peace prize winner. She was honoured in 1979. 
4. Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc.
5. He created the Global March Against Child Labour, a movement that is active in many countries.
6. He is also credited with establishing Rugmark, now known as Good Weave, in 1994. It is a kind of social certification for child labour free carpets in South Asia.
7. He gave up his career as an electrical engineer more than 30 years ago to start `Bachpan Bachao Andolan`.
8. He has been at the helm of various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain.
9. Satyarthi has contributed to the development of important international conventions on children’s rights.
10. Satyarthi has been active in the movement against child labour in India since the 1990s.
11. Kailash Satyarthi was born on January 11, 1954 in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.