The young girl from Swat valley in Pakistan who stood against the Taliban, Malala Yousazai’s name

is associated with
bravery and action-extraordinaire. An advocate of women’s rights and girls’ education, she is a role model to people
of all age groups, the world over.

Malala and her early life

 Born on 12th July 1997 in Mingora, Swat valley Pakistan. Life in the beautiful Swat valley was good. But with the
Taliban taking over the region and gaining control in 2007, this paradise on earth became a living hell. Girls
were banned from attending school, and cultural activities like dancing and watching television were
prohibited.

 But this didn’t stop Malala. She went to school even though she was on the Taliban’s hit list. When she was
asked what gave her the courage to do all this, she replied that it was her father- Ziauddin Yousafzai who gave
encouraged her and motivated her. He always encouraged and supported Malala. It was he, who suggested to
her to write to the BBC world news channel. Malala’s father was a great man who always stood for women’s
rights.

Becoming an Education Activist

 Determined to go to school and with a firm belief in her right to an education, Malala stood up to the Taliban.
"How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?"
 Malala says that human beings don’t realise the importance of something till it is taken away from them. It
was when she was denied education that she realized the importance of it. Even though the Taliban threatened
her, she went to school. Malala is a girl who always stood for what she believed in. She never gave up. She once
said that instead of waiting for the government or the militants to help them, she decided to resolve issues on
her own and do whatever she could. This resolve and determination of young Malala have inspired and continue
to motivate many people around the world also with her inspiring quotes.
 Malala used the media and continued her public campaign for her right to go to school. Her voice grew louder,
and over the course of the next three years, she and her father became known throughout Pakistan for their
determination to give Pakistani girls access to a free quality education. But, not everyone supported and
welcomed her campaign to bring about change in Swat.
 The Pakistani teen, the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize nominee, began her career in activism in 2009 at age
11, blogging anonymously about her life under the Taliban. And when the Taliban began blowing up schools and
forbidding girls from going to class, she kept on writing. She grew more outspoken and identifiable in her work,
appearing in interviews. She began receiving death threats.

2012 Attacked for Going to School

 Seated on a bus heading home from school, Malala was talking with her friends about schoolwork. Two
members of the Taliban stopped the bus. A young bearded Talib asked for Malala by name, and fired three
shots at her. Malala was seriously wounded.
 But even a bullet couldn’t silence her. In the year since her attack, she has healed from her wounds, and she
has bloomed into an even fiercer champion of education for girls.
  And through it all, she remains an active target. Taliban spokesman told The Associated Press “If we found her
again, then we would definitely try to kill her. We will feel proud upon her death.” But when Jon Stewart asked
her what she’d say if the Taliban approached her again, she left him speechless when she replied, “I would tell
him how important education is and that I would even want education for your children as well. That’s what I
want to tell you, now do what you want.” She has refused to give in to threats and intimidation; she’s shown
the world that nothing scares terrorists like an educated girl.

ACHIEVEMENTS

2011 nomination for the International Children's Peace Prize

2011 Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize

2013 The prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought

2013 Establishing the Malala Fund

 She launched the Malala Fund to fight for the rights of the “600 million adolescent girls in the developing
world.” She produced the book “I Am Malala” to tell her story. She’s spoken before the UN. She was a runner-up
for Time’s Person of the Year.
 Today, the Malala Fund has become an organization that, through education, empowers girls to achieve
their potential and become confident and strong leader in their own countries.

2014 Nobel Peace Prize

 the great success of Malala Yousafzai’s 16 years of living isn’t necessarily the sort of thing they hand out awards
for anyway. It’s that she made it to 16 at all.
 She is the youngest person to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
 "This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened
children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change."

Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award.

EU’s top human rights award,

the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

 she published her first book, an autobiography entitled "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education
and Was Shot by the Taliban."
 In October 2015, a documentary about Yousafzai's life was released. HE NAMED ME MALALA
 4 Years ago she was in a hospital fighting for her life. Today she’s a leader of a global movement.
 But she didn’t get shot so she could pick up accolades. She got shot because she was saying things the Taliban
didn’t like. That she is still here and still saying them is her immense achievement. To go on living, in spite of
the odds, is a victory every day. To be heard in the world is a towering triumph. “Prizes should be handed out at
the finish line.” And the victory of Malala Yousafzai is that she’s just getting started.
"Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality"-Malala Yousafzai

“One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.”

“my goal is to get peace and my goal is to see the education of every child.” —Malala Yousafzai