A bullet passed through her head, neck and shoulder; yet that Taliban bullet did not deter her from her goal – she remained a staunch advocate of the power of education, and moved swiftly from a Pakistani school to the United Nations.
She featured on TIME magazine’s front cover as one of “The 100 Most Influential People in the World”.
Childhood
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in the Swat District of north west Pakistan to a Sunni Muslim family. Yousafzai was educated in large part by her father who himself was a leading education advocate.
BBC Blogger
Encouraged by her father, Yousafzai began blogging for the BBC in 2009 about living under the Taliban’s threats to deny her an education. In order to hide her identity, she used the name Gul Makai. She would hand-write notes and passes them on to a reporter who would scan and e-mail them.
After the BBC blog ended, Malala featured in a documentary made by New York Times reporter. She also received greater international coverage and her identity about writing the BBC blog was revealed.
Her increased profile and strident criticism of the Taliban caused its leaders to meet, and in 2012, they voted to kill her.
Assassination Attempt
In October 2012, a Taliban gunman shot Yousafzai as she rode home on a bus in Swat Valley. The bullet went through her head, neck and shoulder. She was airlifted to Rawalpindi where she was operated. Once she was stable she was shifted to Germany and UK for further treatment.
The assassination attempt on Malala saw ratification of the first Right to Education Bill in Pakistan as 2 million people signed the Right to Education campaign’s petition.
Post Attack
She gave a speech at the UN to a group of 500 youths calling for worldwide access to education. in 2013. The UN dubbed the event “Malala Day”.
Yousafzai’s memoir ‘I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban’, cowritten with a British journalist, was published in October 2013. The All Pakistan Private Schools Federation announced that the book would be banned in its 152,000 member institutions, stating that it disrespected Islam and could have a “negative” influence.
Awards
National Youth Peace Prize, 2011
Recipient of the Sakharov Prize for 2013