Works and Achievements of Malala Yousafzai
Works and Achievements of Malala Yousafzai
Works and Achievements of Malala Yousafzai
Introduction
Early life
Early activism
Shot by Taliban
Speech at UN
Malala Day
Awards
Malala Fund
Books
College
Early Life:
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. Mingora
is the largest city in the Swat Valley of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province
in Pakistan. Yousafzai was the first of three children born to Ziauddin and
Tor Pekai Yousafzai. Although it was not always easy to raise a girl child in
Pakistan, Malala Yousafzai’s father insisted that she received all of the
same opportunities afforded to boy children.
At a very young age, Malala developed a thirst for knowledge .Her father,
Ziauddin Yousafzai, a social activist and educator, had established several
schools in the area known as the Khushal Public Schools. she attended
one of these schools, the Khushal Girls High School and College in
Mingora. but In 2007 when malala was 10 years old, the situation in swat
valley began to rapidly change.The Taliban began to control the Swat
Valley. They began enforcing strict Islamic law. They shut down and
demolished girls’ schools and banned women from having any active role
in society. Girl’s education was specifically targeted by the Taliban and by
the end of 2008 they had destroyed over 400 schools This event of the
Taliban taking over early in Malala’s life left an impact that would spur
her journey to make a change.
Early Activism
At eleven years old, Yousafzai decided to stand up to the Taliban. Malala
began her public activism on September 1, 2008, when her father took her to a local press club to
protest the schools closing. It was here that the then-eleven-year-old Malala gave her first speech,
entitled “How Dare the Taliban Take Away My Basic Right to Education?” This presentation was
publicized throughout Pakistan. Soon the British Broadcasting Corporation, known as BBC, began
publishing journal entries from Malala under the pseudonym ‘Gul Makai.Yousafzai
began writing regular entries about her daily life.. Meanwhile, the Taliban
shut down all girls’ schools in Swat and blew up more than 100 of them.
She continued writing until the school reopened. Subsequently, Malala and
her friends started attending classes as they did before. She then gave her
school exams and ended the blog in March 2009.In December of 2009, Malala’s
identity as the BBC blogger was revealed, and she received much support and recognition for her
work. However, this growing fame would eventually lead Malala to be a target of the Taliban
Over the next couple of years, she continued gaining popularity, even was
nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011 due to her activism and was awarded
Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize that same year. The Prime Minister of Pakistan later renamed
the award the National Malala Peace Prize in her honor.
However,October 9, 2012 was a life-changing day for Malala and her future. While she
was on the bus on her way home from school one day, a Taliban gunman climbed aboard the
vehicle and shot Malala in the head. Almost miraculously she survived the assassination
attempt, and was flown to Birmingham, England to recover. This event sparked major
outrage and uproar and provoked the story of Malala to be heard of worldwide.
Malala has since recovered from the horrendous attack. Despite all that she has been through
and the threats from the Taliban, Malala has continued her pursuit of education for all
children with an even fiercer passion.
Malala Day
“Malala chose to mark her 16th birthday with the world. No child should have to
die for going to school. Nowhere should teachers fear to teach or children fear
to learn. Together, we can change the picture.”
Awards
She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the
European Parliament for her activism.
2013: Malala receives the United Nations Human Rights Prize, an award that
is only given every five years.
1. 2013: Malala continues garnering honors for her activism,
receiving the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, joining
other Sakharov recipients like Nelson Mandela and the United
Nations as a whole.
In December of 2014, Yousafzai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for
her work. She used her prize money to build a secondary school for girls in
Pakistan and continued campaigning for education for all children . At age
seventeen, she became the youngest person to be named a Nobel laureate
Since then, Yousafzai has continued to advocate for the rights of women
and girls.
She celebrated her 18th birthday by opening a school for Syrian girls in a refugee
camp in Lebanon. Malala then went on to study for a degree in Philosophy, Politics
and Economics at the University of Oxford, UK.
Yousafzai was also given honorary Canadian citizenship in April 2017. She
is the sixth person and the youngest in the country’s history to receive the
honour.
The Malala Fund advocates for quality education for all girls by
funding education projects internationally, partnering with global
leaders and local advocates, and pioneering innovative strategies to
empower young women.
For her 18th birthday, in July 2015, Yousafzai continued to take action on
global education by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon.
Its expenses covered by the Malala Fund, the school was designed to
admit nearly 200 girls from the ages of 14 to 18. "Today on my first day as
an adult, on behalf of the world's children, I demand of leaders we must
invest in books instead of bullets," Yousafzai proclaimed in one of the
school's classrooms.
“The shocking truth is that world leaders have the money to fully fund primary
AND secondary education around the world - but they are choosing to spend it
on other things, like their military budgets. In fact, if the whole world stopped
spending money on the military for just 8 days, we could have the $39 billion
still needed to provide 12 years of free, quality education to every child on the
planet.
Return to Pakistan
On March 29, 2018, Yousafzai returned to Pakistan for the first time since
her brutal 2012 attack. Not long after arriving, she met with Prime Minister
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and delivered an emotional speech at his office.
"In the last five years, I have always dreamed of coming back to my
country," she said, adding, "I never wanted to leave."
Yousafzai also visited her former home and a military-run cadet college in
Mingora during her four-day trip.
Books
'I Am Malala'
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the
Taliban is an autobiography by Malala Yousafzai released in October 2013.
It became an international bestseller. The book was abridged in 2018 for
young chapter book readers as Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls'
Rights.
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