Malala Yousafzai
Female Education Activist
One of the most inspirational women alive, Malala is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history. Known for her human rights advocacy, especially in the education of women, Malala bravely forged a movement that strongly influenced international opinion.
Born in 1997, she is the daughter of educational activist Ziauddin Yousafzai, a school teacher who ran a chain of schools. This changed when in 2008, the Taliban took control of their town and banned television, playing music, and girls from attending school.
In 2012, having been heavily influenced by her father’s thoughts and humanitarian work, she spoke out publicly on behalf of girls and their right to learn. In October 2012, on her way home from school, a masked gunman boarded her bus and shot her in the side of the head. She woke up 10 days later in a hospital in Birmingham, England. It was at this point that people the world over became aware of Malala’s plight. In 2014, after many months of surgery and rehabilitation, she returned to her new family home in the UK, even more determined to continue her advocacy for the rights of females to an education.
Her father helped her set up a charity, known as the Malala Fund, dedicated to helping all women receive the education they deserve. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014, the youngest laureate ever.
In 2018 she began studying Philosophy, Politics, and Education, but every year she travels to many countries to meet girls fighting poverty, wars and discrimination. The Malala Fund invests money in developing educators and activists and holding leaders accountable to further the advocacy for female education.
Powerful Quotes by a Powerful Woman
“Some people only ask others to do something. I believe that, why should I wait for someone else? Why don’t I take a step and move forward?”
“So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty, and terrorism, and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.”
“We liked to be known as the clever girls. When we decorated our hands with henna for holidays and weddings, we drew calculus and chemical formulae instead of flowers and butterflies.”
“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.”
“If one man can destroy everything, why can’t one girl change it?”
“If people were silent, nothing would change.”
“I think realizing that you’re not alone, that you are standing with millions of your sisters around the world is vital.”
