Malala Yousafzai
As a young girl, Malala Yousafzai
defied the Taliban in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an
education. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, but survived.
Synopsis
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in
Mingora, Pakistan. As a child, she became an advocate for girls' education,
which resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. On October 9,
2012, a gunman shot Malala when she was traveling home from school. She
survived, and has continued to speak out on the importance of education. She
was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2013. In 2014, she was
nominated again and won, becoming the youngest person to receive the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Early Life
On July 12, 1997, Malala Yousafzai was born in
Mingora, Pakistan, located in the country's Swat Valley. For the first few
years of her life, her hometown remained a popular tourist spot that was known
for its summer festivals. However, the area began to change as the Taliban
tried to take control.
Initial
Activism
Yousafzai attended a school that her father, Ziauddin
Yousafzai, had founded. After the Taliban began attacking girls' schools in
Swat, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar, Pakistan, in September 2008. The title
of her talk was, "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to
education?"
In early 2009, Yousafzai began blogging for the BBC
about living under the Taliban's threats to deny her an education. In order to
hide her identity, she used the name Gul Makai. However, she was revealed to be
the BBC blogger in December of that year.
With a growing public platform, Yousafzai continued to
speak out about her right, and the right of all women, to an education. Her
activism resulted in a nomination for the International Children's Peace Prize
in 2011. That same year, she was awarded Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize.
Targeted by
the Taliban
When she was 14, Malala and her family learned that
the Taliban had issued a death threat against her. Though Malala was frightened
for the safety of her father—an anti-Taliban activist—she and her family
initially felt that the fundamentalist group would not actually harm a child.
On October 9, 2012, on her way home from school, a man
boarded the bus Malala was riding in and demanded to know which girl was
Malala. When her friends looked toward Malala, her location was given away. The
gunman fired at her, hitting Malala in the left side of her head; the bullet
then traveled down her neck. Two other girls were also injured in the attack.
The shooting left Malala in critical condition, so she
was flown to a military hospital in Peshawar. A portion of her skull was
removed to treat her swelling brain. To receive further care, she was
transferred to Birmingham, England.
After the
Attack
Once she was in the United Kingdom, Yousafzai was
taken out of a medically induced coma. Though she would require multiple
surgeries—including repair of a facial nerve to fix the paralyzed left side of
her face—she had suffered no major brain damage. In March 2013, she was able to
begin attending school in Birmingham.
The shooting resulted in a massive outpouring of
support for Yousafzai, which continued during her recovery. She gave a speech
at the United Nations on her 16th birthday, in 2013. She has also written an
autobiography, I Am Malala:
The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban,
which was released in October 2013. Unfortunately, the Taliban still considers
Yousafzai a target.
Despite the Taliban's threats, Yousafzai remains a
staunch advocate for the power of education. On October 10, 2013, in
acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Yousafzai the
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. That same year, she was nominated for a
Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't win the prize, but was named a nominee again in
March 2014. In August of the same year, Leanin.Org held a live chat on Facebook with Sheryl Sandberg and Yousafzai about
the importance of education for girls around the world. She talked about her
story, her inspiration and family, her plans for the future and advocacy, and
she answered a variety of inquiries from the social network’s users.
In October 2014, Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace
Prize, along with Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. At
age 17, she became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. In
congratulating Yousafzai, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said: “She is (the)
pride of Pakistan, she has made her countrymen proud. Her achievement is
unparalleled and unequaled. Girls and boys of the world should take lead from
her struggle and commitment." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
described her as "a brave and gentle advocate of peace who through the
simple act of going to school became a global teacher.”
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