Journalism of Courage
Born on July 12, 1997 in Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai's father Ziauddin Yousafzai was determined to give her every opportunity a boy would have. (Source: malala.org)
Malala's father was a teacher and ran a girls' school in their village. But things changed when Taliban took control of their town in the Swat valley and banned many things like owning a television and playing music. Since girls could no longer go to school, Malala dropped out in January 2008, when she was 11 years old. (Source: malala.org)
In 2012, she spoke out publicly on behalf of girls and their right to learn. This made her a target and a masked gunman boarded her school bus, singled her out and shot her. The Taliban later said it had carried out the attack because she promoted liberalism. (Source: malala.org)
She woke up 10 days later in a hospital in Birmingham, England. The doctors told her about the attack and that people around the world were praying for her recovery. After months of surgeries and rehabilitation, she started living in UK. (Source: File Photo)
Despite the attack by Taliban, an undeterred Malala soon returned to the public arena, and continued her advocacy for gender rights more strongly. (Source: AP)
Malala and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai founded Malala Fund in 2013 to champion every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education. (Source: malala.org)
On July 12, 2013, Malala delivered an impassioned speech at the UN headquarters on the need for gender equality in education. The address saw several rounds of standing ovations for the teenager and July 12, which is also her birthday, was later declared by the UN as Malala Day in honour of the young activist.(Source: malala.org)
In 2014, at the age of 17, Malala became the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace prize. More recently, she has been awarded an honorary Canadian citizenship and was the youngest person to address the House of Commons in Canada. (Source: Reuters)
Based out of Birmingham, she also co-authored a book titled “I am Malala” that became an international bestseller.(Source: AP)
Malala returned to Pakistan in March 2018, her first visit since being attacked in 2012. She now lives in Great Britain. (Source: AP)
She also became the youngest UN Messenger of Peace in 2017, joining a distinguished group, including actors Michael Douglas and Leonardo Dicaprio, primatologist Jane Goodall and musicians Daniel Barenboim and Yo-Yo Ma. In Pic: Apple CEO Tim Cook with Malala Yousafzai (Source: AP)
Yousafzai is currently studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the Oxford University. Malala has also been the subject of a number of popular features in mass media, including the documentary “He named me Malala”, which was shortlisted for the Oscars in 2015. In Pic: Malala with her classmates at the Oxford University. (Source: malala.org)
