KARACHI, June 14: The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has awarded its annual award for 2013 to Malala Yousufzai in recognition of her “fearless struggle to uphold the right of girls to education”.

Presented at the 34th annual session of the ministerial council of the fund, the award was accepted by Ziauddin Yousufzai on behalf of his daughter, said a statement by OFID.

In a recorded message sent to OFID, Ms Yousufzai expressed her gratitude for being honoured with “such a prestigious award”. She also underlined the need for all organisations to “work together to educate girls, to teach them, to empower them”.

Education for all “is true development”, she added.

Accepting the award, Mr Yousufzai thanked OFID and said: “I, my daughter Malala, my family and my countryman are very honoured to receive this prestigious award. I hope it will further strengthen — and promote — the cause of educating underprivileged people, especially… girls, for which Malala put her life at stake.”

The OFID’s annual award, which comes with a $100,000 purse, was instituted in 2006. Past recipients include Prof Muhammad Yunus, the founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank, Bangladesh.

The OFID is the development finance institution established by the member states of OPEC in 1976 as a collective channel of aid to the developing countries. It works to stimulate economic growth and alleviate poverty in all disadvantaged regions of the world.—Monitoring desk