Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize: Pakistani Women's Rights Advocate Becomes Youngest Person To Receive Honor
Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot on a school bus in 2012 for fighting for women’s rights, has become the youngest person to ever win the Nobel Peace Prize.
On Friday, the chairman of the Nobel committee, Thorbjoern Jagland, presented the honor to the 17-year-old.
"She is (the) pride of Pakistan, she has made her countrymen proud," Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said about Yousafzai. "Her achievement is unparalleled and unequaled.”
He added, "Girls and boys of the world should take lead from her struggle and commitment."
In 2009, Yousafzai became a BBC blogger under the pseudonym Gul Makai and chronicled life under Taliban’s rule and their desire to prevent women’s education. However, her identity was later discovered and on October 9, 2012, she was shot in the head by the Taliban while heading home from school. The bullet traveled to her neck and left her in critical condition. Yousafzai was treated in Birmingham, England and last year started school again in the U.K.
Since then, the teenager has become known worldwide for her brave efforts and continues to fight for women’s rights. She delivered a speech at the United Nations when she was just 16 years old and in October 2013 released an autobiography titled "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban." Taliban fighters are still after Yousafzai.
“Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations,” the Nobel committee said. “This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education.”
Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, 60, was simultaneously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Satyarthi is recognized for his fight against the exploitation of children in the form of slavery, labor and trafficking.
Watch Malala Yousafzai's story below:
