Highlighting the Life of Malala Yousafzai

By Bijou

On October 10, 2014, a 17-year-old girl walked onstage to win one of the most prestigious awards in the world. The world watched as she stood in the front of the room, standing as a symbol of resilience, dedication, and change. She was Malala Yousafzai, and she remains today a champion for equal education for girls and women.

Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. She grew up as the daughter of an educational activist father, who aimed to educate girls in Pakistan despite the dangers and inspired her to venture into politics and activism. When Yousafzai was ten years old, an armed militant group called the Taliban began occupying Pakistan, aiming to overthrow Pakistan’s democratic government. The Taliban banned women and girls from attending school or going to any public areas, going so far as to bomb girls’ schools in Pakistan. It was around this time that Yousafzai began to become more heavily involved in activism. She participated in public campaigns advocating for women’s education. She began writing blogs for the BBC about life under Taliban occupation. “It seems that it is only when dozens of schools have been destroyed and hundreds of others closed down that the army thinks about protecting them” she wrote. “I am sad watching my uniform, school bag, and geometry box.” Eventually, the Taliban allowed girls’ schools to reopen again, but the restrictions and stigmas placed on female students discouraged many from attending. 

From 2011-2012, Yousafzai acted as a public symbol for girls’ education in Pakistan, gaining national recognition for her work and becoming a prominent voice for change in Taliban-controlled Pakistan, where military conflicts were widespread and women continued to face social barriers. She continuously made local and national television appearances and participated in a variety of media campaigns spreading awareness about the precarious state of girls’ education in her hometown. For her efforts, she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize and won Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize within the same year. However, her fame led her to become a target for the Taliban, and on October 9, 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman on her way home from school. While she remained in critical condition, the incident garnered international condemnation as people all over the world stood in solidarity with the young girl who was fighting for the right to learn. UN chief Ban Ki-Moon denounced the attack as a “heinous and cowardly act” and then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Taliban extremists and called on the need to support young female activists. The incident also drew widespread international attention to Yousafzai’s activism and the inequality of education for girls and women in Pakistan. 

After several months of recovery, Yousafzai returned to the spotlight in 2013 and continued to advocate for women’s education, this time on a more international stage. She addressed the United Nations Youth Assembly, co-founded the Malala Fund, a nonprofit organization aiming to provide educational resources to underprivileged girls, and published her autobiography I Am Malala all in the same year. But arguably her most important achievement came in 2014 when she became the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in honor of her activism and contributions to equal education. At just 17 years old, she was and remains the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history. During her acceptance speech, she urged the following: “Let us become the first generation that decides to be the last that sees empty classrooms, lost childhoods, and wasted potentials”. 

Today, Yousafzai still remains an active advocate and changemaker. Yousafzai’s Malala Fund actively conducts research on the current progress of educational advancement for girls, funds girls’ schools in underprivileged areas, and supports young female advocates by providing them with platforms to make their voices heard. In 2024, the organization raised $1.5 for girls’ education in Afghanistan. Over a decade since her traumatic injury, Yousafzai faithfully continues her lifelong mission of ensuring that every girl in the world receives the education she deserves, because in her own words, “one child, one teacher, one pen, and one book can change the world.”

Works Cited:

Alexander, Kerri Lee. “Malala Yousafzai.” National Women’s History Museum, 2020. Accessed 16 September 2024 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/malala-yousafzai 

“Let Us Pick up Our Books and Our Pens, They Are the Most Powerful Weapons’ | Malala Yousafzai.” The Guardian, 12 July 2013. Accessed 16 September 2024 www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jul/12/malala-yousafzai-united-nations-education-speech-text?CMP=share_btn_url. 

Blumberg, Naomi. "Malala Yousafzai". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Sep. 2024.  Accessed 20 September 2024 https://www.britannica.com/biography/Malala-Yousafzai

“Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) - Security Council.” United Nations, 29 July 2011. Accessed 22 September 2024 main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/entity/tehrik-e-taliban-pakistan-%28ttp%29. 

“World Condemns Pakistani Activist’s Shooting.” Al Jazeera, 10 Oct. 2012. Accessed 22 September 2024 www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/10/10/world-condemns-pakistani-activists-shooting. 

“Malala Yousafzai.” United Nations. Accessed 24 September 2024. www.un.org/en/messengers-peace/malala-yousafzai. 

Smith-Spark, Laura. “Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi Share Nobel Peace Prize.” CNN, 14 Oct. 2014. Accessed 25 September 2024 www.cnn.com/2014/10/10/world/europe/nobel-peace-prize/index.html 

Shaheed, Munaza. “Malala Fund Raises $1.5 Million to Support Afghan Girls’ Education.” Voice of America (VOA News), 14 June 2024. Accessed 25 September 2024 www.voanews.com/a/malala-fund-raises-1-5-million-to-support-afghan-girls-education/7656463.html. 

Yousafzai, Malala. “Malala Yousafzai: 16th Birthday Speech at the United Nations.” Malala Fund, Malala Fund, 11 Apr. 2022. Accessed 26 September 2024 malala.org/newsroom/malala-un-speech. 

“Moving Moments from Malala’s BBC Diary.” BBC News, 10 Oct. 2014. Accessed 26 September 2024 www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29565738.