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El Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminación en México (CONAPRED), otorgó hoy a Malala Yousafzai, el Reconocimiento por Igualdad y la No Discriminación 2013, Categoría Internacional.

En una emotiva ceremonia celebrada en esta ciudad, el señor Ziauddin Yousafzai, padre de Malala, recibió el reconocimiento a nombre de su hija, de manos del doctor  Mauricio Merino, Presidente de la Asamblea Consultiva del Consejo Nacional para Prevenir la Discriminación en México (CONAPRED).

El señor Ziauddin Yousafzai se dijo honrado en aceptar el premio del Consejo, como un reconocimiento al esfuerzo de Malala en favor de la defensa de los derechos de las niñas a la educación y el desarrollo.

Es importante recordar que debido a su labor, Malala sufrió un atentado armado que puso en riesgo su vida, hecho que la obligó a salir de Pakistán, su país de origen, aunque fortaleció su compromiso con la defensa de los derechos de las menores, lo que le valió el Premio Nobel de la Paz en 2014, a los 17 años de edad, convirtiéndose en la persona más joven en recibirlo, en cualquier categoría

El Presidente de la Asamblea Consultiva del CONAPRED, Mauricio Merino, explicó al padre de Malala que el reconocimiento entregado busca difundir el trabajo y la trayectoria de personas y/o instituciones que, a través de su vida contribuyen a sentar las bases para el ejercicio igualitario de los derechos humanos, especialmente en temas vinculados con la prevención y eliminación de la discriminación, y en la construcción de una cultura a favor de la igualdad en el territorio nacional y a nivel internacional.

Acompañado del Embajador de México en el Reino Unido, Diego Gómez Pickering, el doctor Merino también refirió que las personas que se han hecho acreedoras a los reconocimientos del CONAPRED desde el 2006, en sus distintas categorías, cumplen con una amplia trayectoria en el ámbito de la lucha contra la discriminación o en temas transversales de derechos humanos. 

Speech of Mauricio Merino, President of the Consultative Assembly of the Mexican National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred) during the awarding of the International Prize of Equity and Non-Discrimination of 2013 to Malala Yousafzai.

Mr Consul Maroof Syed, Mr Ambassador Gómez Pickering, Ladies and Gentlemen, Esteemed and admired Professor Ziauddin Yousafzai, this gathering makes me really happy, and I wholeheartedly thank you for it.

A little over two years ago, in mid-2013 —long before Malala, your brave and adorable daughter, won the Nobel Peace Prize and became an inspiration for the entire world— the Citizen’s Assembly of the Mexican National Council to Prevent Discrimination had already seen in both, her and you, the virtues that our country should hold as exemplary.

I am very glad to finally be able to say these words to you in person. And I beg you, sir, please convey them to Malala.

In Mexico there are no Taliban, but there is organised crime, and there are drug-dealers who commit atrocities every single day. They too capture and recruit little girls and boys, and teenagers, against their will, to swell their ranks. A substantial part of the violence that Mexico suffers today is committed by those who are, at the same time, victims and victimisers. They are the ultimate consequence of a fanatical ideology as well: that of corruption and violent domination. Our daily tragedies, Professor Yousafzai, are not that far away from yours.

We Mexicans also want to guarantee our children’s right to education and we also know that education is the necessary road to fight fanaticism and violence.

But quality education is still refused to the great majority of our children and, especially, to the poorest of them. Not all of our children are able to go to school because poverty and violence stop them from doing so. And out of those who do get to go to school, 83 of every 100 indigenous children do not learn almost anything and neither do 70 of every 100 who attend community schools. They do not have basic numeracy nor can they comprehend what little they read. These children, who did not choose to be born poor or discriminated, go to schools that condemn them to stay poor and discriminated forever. And thus, they sentence them to become an easy prey for the fanatics of corruption and violence.

I am very sorry for the fact that a Mexican young man frightened Malala at the ceremony in which your daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. He wanted to give her a Mexican flag and perhaps wanted to say something similar to what I am saying to you now: that we will only change the deeply-rooted discrimination if we are able to communicate the message of the Yousafzai family.

The battle must be fought from the bottom upwards and from within; from the clean conscience of every girl and boy; from the solidarity and love, amongst and for, the disadvantaged and the victims of violence; from peaceful courage which is the opposite of the violent cowardice we face. In the name of that anonymous young Mexican I now give you, Professor Yousafzai, the Mexican flag – may Malala hold it as dearly as we all hold her. And, of course, I give you the International Prize of Equity and Non-Discrimination of 2013, which brought us here today.

Thank you very much, Professor.

Thank you all.