Malala Yousafzai and Harry Belafonte received Ambassador of Conscience Award 2013

Pakistani schoolgirl and education rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai and American singer, human rights and social justice activist Harry Belafonte were jointly awarded with Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2013 on 17 September 2013 in Dublin, Ireland.

The Ambassador of Conscience Award is the human rights group's highest honour, recognizing individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause of human rights through their life and by example.

About Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani school pupil and education activist from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban militant in October 2012 after she campaigned for girls' right to education.

About Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was born on March 1, 1927, in New York City. Belafonte's career took off with the film Carmen Jones (1954). Soon after, he had several hits—The Banana Boat Song (Day-O) and Jamaica Farewell. In addition to his acting and singing career, Belafonte worked as a champion for many social and political causes.

In 1985, he earned a Grammy Award for producing the We Are the World album. He was named UNICEF's goodwill ambassador in 1987.

Harry Belafonte has dedicated his life to humanitarian causes, spanning the civil rights movement to the plight of children caught in Syria's armed conflict.

About the award

The Ambassador of Conscience Award is Amnesty International's most prestigious human rights award. It is given to individuals who show exceptional leadership in the fight to protect and promote human rights and human conscience.

The Award, inspired by a poem written for Amnesty International by Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, aims to promote the work of Amnesty International by association with the life, work and example of its Ambassadors.

Amnesty International named Vaclav Havel its inaugural Ambassador of Conscience award in 2003. Vaclav Havel was a human rights defender, the last President of Czechoslovakia, and the first President of the Czech Republic.