Malala Yousafzai facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Malala Yousafzai
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| ملاله یوسفزۍ | |
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Yousafzai at an event in 2019
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| Born | July 12, 1997 |
| Education | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (BA) |
| Occupation | Activist for female education |
| Organisation | Malala Fund |
| Spouse(s) |
Asser Malik
(m. 2021) |
| Parents |
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| Honours | Nobel Peace Prize (2014) |
Malala Yousafzai (Urdu: ملالہ یوسفزئی, Pashto: ملاله یوسفزۍ, pronunciation: born July 12, 1997) is a Pakistani activist for female education and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pakistani and the first Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize.
In her native homeland, Swat, the Pakistani Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Malala's advocacy has grown into an international movement. According to former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become Pakistan's "most prominent citizen."
Contents
Childhood
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, to a Yusufzai Pashtun family in Swat. She is the daughter of Ziauddin Yousafzai and Toor Pekai Yousafzai. She has two younger brothers, Khushal and Atal.
Yousafzai was educated mostly by her father - a poet, school owner, and an educational activist. He ran a chain of private schools known as the Khushal Public School. Malala liked his thoughts and was inspired by his work.
Education rights activism
Yousafzai started speaking about education rights as early as September 2008, when her father took her to Peshawar to speak at the local press club. "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" she asked in a speech covered by newspapers and television channels throughout the region.
In early 2009, when she was 11, she wrote a blog under her pseudonym Gul Makai for the BBC Urdu to tell about her life during the Taliban's occupation of Swat. She became more popular throughout the world and was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize.
A tragic day
On October 9, 2012, a Taliban gunman tried to kill her while she was on a bus in Swat District after taking an exam. A bullet hit her in the head, but after two hospital stays, she healed.
International support
The attempt on her life sparked an international outpouring of support. Deutsche Welle reported in January 2013 that she may have become "the most famous teenager in the world." Weeks after the attempted murder, a group of 50 leading Muslim clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her. Governments, human rights organizations, and feminist groups began speaking against the Pakistani Taliban.
On October 15, 2012, UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown, the former British Prime Minister, visited Yousafzai while she was in the hospital. He began a petition in her name and "in support of what Malala fought for." Using the slogan "I am Malala," the petition contained three demands:
- We call on Pakistan to agree to a plan to deliver education for every child.
- We call on all countries to outlaw discrimination against girls.
- We call on international organizations to ensure the world's 61 million out-of-school children are in education by the end of 2015.
Life in the UK
Yousafzai completed her secondary school education at Edgbaston High School in Birmingham, England, from 2013 to 2017. From there she won a place at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) She graduated with honors in 2020.
After her recovery, Yousafzai became a prominent activist for the right to education. She co-founded the Malala Fund, a non-profit organization based in Birmingham, with Shiza Shahid.
Continuing activism
In July 2014, Yousafzai spoke at the Girl Summit in London. In October 2014, she donated $50,000 to the UNRWA for the reconstruction of schools in the Gaza Strip.
On July 12, 2013, her 16th birthday, Yousafzai spoke at the UN to tell of her goal to make education available to everyone in the world. The UN named this day "Malala Day." It was her first public speech since the attack. 500 other youths who are fighting for education were there. Words from the speech were used as lyrics for "Speak Out," a song by Kate Whitley commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and broadcast on International Women's Day 2017.
On July 12, 2015, her 18th birthday, Yousafzai opened a school in the Beqaa Valley, in Lebanon near the Syrian border, for Syrian refugees. The school, funded by the not-for-profit Malala Fund, offers education and training to girls aged 14 to 18 years. Yousafzai asked world leaders to invest in "books, not bullets."
Nobel Peace Prize
On October 10, 2014, Yousafzai was announced as the co-recipient of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. She was the youngest winner of the prize, winning at age 17. Yousafzai shared the prize with Kailash Satyarthi, a children's rights activist from India. She is the second Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize after 1979 Physics laureate Abdus Salam.
Personal life
On November 9, 2021, Yousafzai married Asser Malik, a manager with the Pakistan Cricket Board, in Birmingham.
Malala Yousafzai quotes
- "Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world."
- "There should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin color, or religion."
- "When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful."
- "The best way to solve problems and to fight against war is through dialogue."
Interesting facts about Malala Yousafzai
- She was named after the Afghan folk heroine Malalai of Maiwand. Her first name Malala means "grief-stricken."
- She considers Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Barack Obama, and Benazir Bhutto as her role models.
- Malala is fluent in Pashto, Urdu, and English. She plays cricket and tennis.
- She wanted to become a doctor, though later her father encouraged her to become a politician instead.
- In 2013, she co-authored I Am Malala, an international best seller.
- Yousafzai spoke before the United Nations in July 2013, and had an audience with Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace. In September, she spoke at Harvard University, and in October, she met with U.S. President Barack Obama and his family.
- In 2015, she was the subject of the Oscar-shortlisted documentary He Named Me Malala.
- Yousafzai wrote a picture book, Malala's Magic Pencil, which was illustrated by Kerascoët and published on October 17, 2017. By March 2018, The Bookseller reported that the book had over 5,000 sales in the UK.
- On March 8, 2021, Apple announced that Malala will work on programming for their streaming service, Apple TV+.
Awards and honors
Yousafzai has received the following national and international honors, listed by the date they were awarded:
- 2011: International Children's Peace Prize (nominee)
- 2011: National Youth Peace Prize
- January 2012: Anne Frank Award for Moral Courage
- October 2012: Sitara-e-Shujaat, Pakistan's second-highest civilian bravery award
- November 2012: Foreign Policy magazine top 100 global thinker
- December 2012: Time magazine Person of the Year shortlist for 2012
- November 2012: Mother Teresa Awards for Social Justice
- December 2012: Rome Prize for Peace and Humanitarian Action
- January 2013: Top Name in Annual Survey of Global English in 2012
- January 2013: Simone de Beauvoir Prize
- March 2013: Memminger Freiheitspreis 1525 (conferred on 7 December 2013 in Oxford)
- March 2013: Doughty Street Advocacy award of Index on Censorship
- March 2013: Fred and Anne Jarvis Award of the UK National Union of Teachers
- April 2013: Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards, Global Trailblazer
- April 2013: One of Time's "100 Most Influential People in the World"
- May 2013: Premi Internacional Catalunya Award of Catalonia
- June 2013: Annual Award for Development of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID)
- June 2013: International Campaigner of the Year, 2013 Observer Ethical Awards
- August 2013: Tipperary International Peace Award for 2012, Ireland Tipperary Peace Convention
- 2013: Portrait of Yousafzai by Jonathan Yeo displayed at National Portrait Gallery, London
- September 2013: Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International
- 2013: International Children's Peace Prize
- 2013: Clinton Global Citizen Awards from Clinton Foundation
- September 2013: Harvard Foundation's Peter Gomes Humanitarian Award from Harvard University
- 2013: Anna Politkovskaya Award – Reach All Women in War
- 2013: Reflections of Hope Award – Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum
- 2013: Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought – awarded by the European Parliament
- 2013: Honorary Master of Arts degree awarded by the University of Edinburgh
- 2013: Pride of Britain (October)
- 2013: Glamour magazine Woman of the Year
- 2013: GG2 Hammer Award at GG2 Leadership Awards (November)
- 2013: International Prize for Equality and Non-Discrimination
- 2014: Awarded the World Children's Prize also known as Children's Nobel Prize
- 2014: Awarded Honorary Life Membership by the PSEU (Ireland)
- 2014: Skoll Global Treasure Award
- 2014: Honorary Doctor of Civil Law, University of King's College, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- 2014: 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, shared with Kailash Satyarthi
- 2014: Philadelphia Liberty Medal
- 2014: Asia Game Changer Award
- 2014: One of Time Magazine "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014"
- 2014: Honorary Canadian citizenship
- 2015: Asteroid 316201 Malala named in her honour.
- 2015: The audio version of her book I Am Malala wins Grammy Award for Best Children's Album.
- 2016: Honorary President of The Students' Union of the University of Sheffield
- 2016: Order of the Smile
- 2017: Youngest ever United Nations Messenger of Peace
- 2017: Received honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa
- 2017: Ellis Island International Medal of Honor
- 2017: Wonk of the Year 2017 from American University
- 2017: Harper's Bazaar inducted Malala in the list of "150 of the most influential female leaders in the UK".
- 2018: Advisor to Princess Zebunisa of Swat, Swat Relief Initiative Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey
- 2018: Gleitsman Award from the Center for the Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School
- 2019: For their first match of March 2019, the women of the United States women's national soccer team each wore a jersey with the name of a woman they were honoring on the back; Carli Lloyd chose the name of Yousafzai.
- 2022: Elected World's Children's Prize Decade Child Rights Hero, amongst previous recipients of the World's Children's Prize.
Images for kids
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Yousafzai with her father (left) and Martin Schulz in Strasbourg, 2013
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From left to right: Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali Jinnah have influenced Yousafzai
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Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, one of Yousafzai's sources of inspiration
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International Poetry Festival 2013 in Argentina, to honour Yousafzai
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Yousafzai at Women of the World Festival, 2014
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Education campaigner Malala Yousafzai
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Malala Yousafzai meeting with the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto
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Malala Yousafzai speaks to DFID staff to discuss the importance of girls’ education.
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Malala Yousafzai with delegates at the Supporting Syria and the Region conference
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Malala and Freida Pinto meet the Youth For Change panel.
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Prime Minister of Japan Shinzō Abe and Malala Yousafzai shaking hands
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Yousafzai as the guest of honour at the Award Ceremony of the International Children's Peace Prize 2017
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Malala Yousafzai signs Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken's guestbook before their meeting at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2021.
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Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken meets with Malala Yousafzai at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on December 6, 2021.
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See also
In Spanish: Malala Yousafzai para niños
