On this day, July 12, 2017, women’s rights advocate and 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai turns 20 years old. In honor of the impact she has made, the United Nations has declared the date Malala Day.
Image courtesy of Politico
Yousafzai first gained attention in 2008 for writing a BBC blog about the encroaching influence of the Taliban in her home of Swat Valley, Pakistan; she was only 11 at the time. She continued to gain acclaim, winning Pakistan’s first National Youth Prize, before a Taliban gunman boarded Yousafzai’s school bus and shot her at point-blank range in 2012. Remarkably,Yousafzai survived and made an almost completely full recovery. She now resides in the UK with her family, where she continues her activism on behalf of girl’s education and the rights of young people around the world.
Image courtesy of Save the Children
Yousafzai’s memoir, I Am Malala, was published in 2015.
Featured image courtesy of Dunya News.