Group 4: Malala Yousafzai

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Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for girls' education and women's equality who fought against the Taliban, survived an assassination attempt and became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

     Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai was determined to give his daughter every opportunity a son would have, starting with an education. That all changed when Malala was 10 years old and her town of Swat Valley was taken over by the Taliban. Under this fundamentalists group, women were forbidden from receiving an education and over 400 schools were closed. Ziauddin openly continued to encourage Malala's quest for knowledge and in a fascinating TED talk once said, "Why is my daughter so strong? Because I didn't clip her wings".

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     Outraged at being denied access to an education, twelve year old Malala reached out to the outside world by blogging for the BBC under the pen name Gulmakai detailing her life under the Taliban regime. Her writings were moving, powerful, and showed her to be wise beyond her years. In 2009 The New York Times made a documentary about her in which she publicly campaigned for girls' education. This led to her being awarded Pakistan's first National Youth Prize in 2011, which has now been renamed The National Malala Peace Prize. 

Unfortunately Malala’s time in the spotlight made her a target. In 2012 Malala was on a school bus when a masked man boarded the bus, asked for Malala by name and shot her in the head, neck, and shoulder. She was only 15 years old. 

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  Miraculously Malala survived and her ordeal only empowered her to continue to promote education and peace. Nine months after being shot, she gave a powerful speech at the United Nations calling on world leaders to provide free education for every child. In reaction, the UN declared July 12th Malala Day.

   Continuing to break boundaries, Malala won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 for, "her struggle against the suppression of children and for the right of all children to education." The youngest to do so. 

Malala has now started the Malala foundation which raises money to promote girls' education worldwide. She also wrote a memoir called "I am Malala" which immediately became a bestseller as people all over the world became inspired by a young girl whose convictions made her fearless and powerful enough to change the world. One can only sit and wait to see what else she will accomplish.