Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.  She is known for human rights advocacy, especially related to the education of women and children in northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban has at times banned girls from attending school … Inspired in no small part by the humanitarian work of her father, Malala began writing a public blog in 2009 (when she was only 11) detailing her life during the Taliban occupation of Swat.  The following summer a New York Times journalist made a documentary about her, and she was subsequently nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize … As she became more popular, the dangers facing Malala increased. Death threats against her were published in newspapers and slipped under her door.  On Facebook, where she was an active user, she began to receive threats and fake profiles were created under her name.  When none of these attempts silenced her, a Taliban spokesman says they were “forced” to act. In a meeting held in the summer of 2012, Taliban leaders unanimously agreed to have her killed.

 

And so it was that in late 2012, Malala was severely injured by a Taliban gunman who had attempted to assassinate her.  The murder attempt sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Malala.  Protests against the shooting were held in several Pakistani cities the day after the attack, and over 2 million people signed the Right to Education campaign’s petition — which eventually led to the ratification of the first Right to Education Bill in Pakistan.  To their credit, a group of fifty leading Muslim clerics in Pakistan also issued a fatwā against those who had tried to kill her …

 

After recovering from her wounds, Malala became a prominent education activist, founded the Malala Fund — a non-profit organization, and co-authored I am Malala, an international bestseller.  In 2013, she also met with then U.S. President Obama, where she directly confronted him on his immoral use of drone strikes against Pakistan … In 2014, she was announced as the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to receive an education. Aged 17 at the time, she became the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.  In October of that year, after receiving the World Children’s Prize in Sweden, she announced a donation of $50,000 to help rebuild 65 schools destroyed by Israel in Gaza.  Later, on her 18^th birthday (July 12, 2015), Malala officially opened a school for Syrian refugees in the Bekaa Valley (Lebanon).

 

“The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions, but nothing changed in my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born … I am not against anyone, neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I’m here to speak up for the right of education for every child. I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all terrorists and extremists.^” ~ Malala Yousafzai

 

 

 

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt