In 2012, a Pakistani teenager was shot in the head by the Taliban.

The reason?

She spoke out for the rights of girls to get an education. 

This article is a tribute to her life, from her recovery to an award-winning advocate for girls' education.

Her early life

Malala Yousafzai was born on 12th July 1997 in the Swat Valley of Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin, a teacher, ran a girls' school in their village. 

In 2008, the Taliban took control of her town and banned girls from going to school after 15th January 2009. Even before the ban, they had already destroyed more than a hundred girls schools.

In 2009, inspired by both her father’s humanitarian work and by Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's former Prime Minister, Malala wrote a blog describing her life under the Taliban rule. This was written under a pseudonym for the BBC Urdu.

In the following year, a New York Times documentary was made about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in her region. Malala spoke out for girls to have a right to learn. She became famous and gave interviews for newspapers and on television. 

She was even nominated by the social rights activist, Desmond Tutu, for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011.

However, her activism made her a target and death threats were published in newspapers. She even received threats on Facebook.

On 9th October 2012, a masked gunman boarded the school bus that Malala was travelling on. He shot 2 other girls and Malala. She was shot in the head. She was 15.

Since her attempted murder.

“I told myself, Malala, you have already faced death. This is your second life. Don’t be afraid. If you are afraid, you can’t move forward.”

After treatment in Pakistan, Malala was taken to Birmingham in England.

She lived in the UK with her family and endured months of surgeries and rehabilitation.

However, her trauma did not deter her from her fight for education for all girls. 

“Education is education. We should learn everything and then choose which path to follow. Education is neither Eastern nor Western, it is human.”

On her 16th birthday, she spoke at the UN to call for worldwide access to education. Her birthday is now known as “Malala Day” in honour of women's and children’s rights around the world.

With her father, Malala established the ‘Malala Fund'. Through this charity, she is committed to all girls to receive a free and safe education. She travels to different countries, meeting girls fighting poverty, wars, child marriage and gender discrimination to go to school. Her fund invests in developing education systems. 

Her advocacy has grown into an international movement. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shahed Khaqan Abbasi, has said that she is Pakistan's “most prominent citizen.”

On her 18th birthday, she opened a school in Lebanon, near the Syrian border for Syrian refugees which offers education and training to girls aged 14 to 18 years.

In 2020, she graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Awards and Accolades 

Among other awards:

2012: Anne Frank Award for Moral Courage. Rome Prize for Peace and Humanitarian Action.

2013: Pride of Britain.

2014: Was named as one of Time Magazine’s 25 Most Influential Teens.

2014: Nobel Peace Prize and the youngest-ever Nobel Laureate.               

2014: Co authored ‘I am Malala' with Christina Lamb.

2017: Awarded honorary Canadian citizenship. Youngest ever United Nations Messenger of Peace.

To say Malala is an inspiration is an understatement. Before she was even shot she received death threats but she was undeterred from speaking out. Even getting shot and then having to endure months of surgeries and rehabilitation did not stop her activism. 

Most people would have been too frightened and traumatised to continue to fight. But her courage never faltered. 

“We realise the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”

In a world where 132 million girls don’t go to school because of reasons like poverty, child marriage and gender-based violence, voices like Malala’s are very much needed to be heard.

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Sources: malala.org, wikipedia.org, rotaryactiongroupforpeace.org, the growth faculty.com, unicef.org

Catch our interview with Malala Fund and Assembly’s Editor, Tess Thomas