Malala Yousafzai, a female education activist, is the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. At the age of 17, she received the global prize.
She received the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to ensure that every girl child has the right to an education.
When the Islamic Taliban Movement took control of her hometown, Swat Valley, in 2008, the school she attended was burned down and girls were ordered not to attend. Yousafzai kept a diary of everything that happened and spoke out against the Taliban’s terrorist regime.
Her life was threatened after BBC Urdu published her diary in 2009, and she was shot in the head on a school bus in 2012 by a Taliban gunman.
Fortunately, she survived the attack, but she was forced to flee to England and live in exile with her family due to a ‘fatwa’ (decree issued by a recognized Islamic authority) issued against her.
Yousafzai spoke at the United Nations on the equal right to education for girls worldwide, her first public appearance since the July 12 shooting, her 16th birthday.
In 2013, she was named one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World” by TIME magazine.
