The winner of the Nobel Prize for peace Malala Yousufzai is known for her efforts in fighting for girls’ rights to education in her home country in Pakistan.
Despite her young age Malala managed to be an advocate for girls’ rights and her story was heard by millions of people around the world.
Malala Yousafzai was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, Swat valley, Pakistan. She is the daughter of Ziauddin Yousafzai and Tor Pekai Yousafzai and the oldest of two younger brothers.
Malala’s father was a teacher who has always encouraged her to become a politician and to speak up her mind.
Malala attended Khushal Girls High School and College, which was administrated by her father in the city of Mingora. Late, the Pakistani Taliban invaded her hometown and banned girls from going to schools.
She was also a student in the all-girls Edgbaston High School in Birmingham from 2013-2018.
She graduated from the University of Oxford in 2020 with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics.
In 2008, after the Taliban attacked her hometown and banned young girls from attending schools along with many other activities, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar. She Talked about how this terrorist organization must not be allowed to take her right to receive a proper education.
Then in 2009, she became a BBC blogger. She concealed her identity and wrote under the name Gul Makai. In her blogs, Malala spoke about living under the Taliban rule and how she was denied her basic right to education.
In her first blog Malala talked about a dream she had about Taliban and military helicopters, and then continued to express how she was afraid to go to school due to the edict issued by the Taliban that banned girls from going to school. She stated that only 11 out of 27 of her classmates have shown to school.
Malala’s Identity was revealed in December 2009. She continued blogging until the Taliban signed a peace deal with the government, and the ban on girl’s schools was lifted.
After her BBC blogging journey ended, Malala was approached by New York Times reporter to film a documentary. By the time the documentary was filmed Malala has already moved to live with relatives due to the evacuation of her town Mingora.
With growing publicity and increasing activism, Malala received death threats from Taliban leaders. Then on October 9, 2012, the bus that Malala was riding on her way to school was stopped and a masked gunman asked about Malala Yousafzai. After identifying her, the gunman shot Malala in the lift side of her head.
Malala survived the gunshot, but her condition was critical. She was moved to the military hospital in Peshawar, then she was flown to Birmingham, England, to receive further care.
9 months later, on her 16th birthday, Malala gave her first speech at the UN. In her speech, Malala focused on education and women’s rights.
Malala Yousufzai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 as recognition of her efforts to advocate and fight for children’s right to education. She became the youngest to receive the prize, at 17 years old.