SWAT - Fourteen-year-old Hira Akbar has become the second student from Swat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa after Malala Yousafzai to be nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize.

She is among six students shortlisted out of 200 across the world for the award.

“I’ll continue my struggle for the rights of my fellow students in Swat,” Hira was quoted as saying from her home in Saidu Sharif, the main town in the picturesque district. “The nomination has motivated me to strive for children’s rights across the province,” she added.

Hira, the speaker of the Child Rights Committee’s (CRC) parliament, has been nominated for the award for her efforts for children’s rights in Swat. Other than working for CRC and raising her voice against underage marriages as well as the ordeal of physical abuse towards children in Swat’s schools, Hira, a student of grade 7 is also a pigeon-keeping enthusiast.

Hira expressed high hopes of winning the award owing to her efforts for child rights. The recipient of the award will be announced on November 15.

Malala, who was shot by Taliban militants after campaigning for girls’ right to education, had won the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize in 2013.

The International Children’s Peace Prize, an initiative of the Dutch based Kids Rights Foundation, was launched in 2005 by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, when he chaired the Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome.

Malala later became the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. International Children’s Peace Prize carries a cash value of 100,000 euros ($133,000) that is invested in projects relating to the winner’s cause.