This year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is a well-deserving intergovernmental organization—the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The OPCW works in collaboration with the United Nations to administer the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWP).
As of January 2013, the OPCW had overseen the destruction of nearly 80% of the world’s acknowledged stockpile of chemical weapons. As I write, it has a team in Syria, working to dismantle that country’s chemical weapons in the middle of a bloody civil war.
As I read the history of their work, I am fascinated. When I think of the bravery of their workers in Syria, and contemplate the potential of their efforts for peace in the Middle East and survival of humanity, I am awed and grateful.
Yet, when I view the video showing their fine exhibits to the public, my thoughts turn immediately to Malala Yousafzai—the Pakistani teenaged girl who was shot twice in the head to punish her for promoting education for girls in a district where they wanted no girls in school.
People around the world were aghast at the effort to assassinate her, prayed for her recovery, and were thrilled to see her nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize—the youngest nominee in the history of the prize.
Malala did not win it this year, though she continues to be recognized for her courage, integrity, activism—and readiness to speak truth to power. When President Obama invited her to the White House “”to thank her for her inspiring and passionate work on behalf of girls education in Pakistan,” she told him she was concerned that “drone attacks are fueling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people.”
President Obama would do well to heed the words of this young woman.
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology