Early Life

In 2009, Malala under a pseudo name wrote to the BBC expressing her views on the current events and situation in the valley. This got the world’s
attention to the situation in Swat valley and everybody started talking about it. Later, The New York Times made a documentary on her and her life
in Swat. This eventually put her on the hit list of the Taliban.

The Victory of Malala Yousafzai

She didn't win a Nobel Prize Friday, but she attained a greater triumph.
Much of the world's population, especially in poor countries, is made up of children and young people. To achieve a
peaceful world, it is crucial that the rights of children and young people be respected. Injustices perpetrated against
children contribute to the spread of conflicts to future generations. Already at eleven years of age Malala Yousafzai
fought for girls' right to education. After having suffered an attack on her life by Taliban gunmen in 2012, she has
continued her struggle and become a leading advocate of girls' rights.
Malala Yousafzai - Biographical

At a very young age, Malala developed a thirst for knowledge.

In 2007, when Malala was ten years old, the situation in the Swat Valley rapidly changed for her family and community.
The Taliban began to control the Swat Valley and quickly became the dominant socio-political force throughout much of
northwestern Pakistan. Girls were banned from attending school, and cultural activities like dancing and watching
television were prohibited. Suicide attacks were widespread, and the group made its opposition to a proper education
for girls a cornerstone of its terror campaign. By the end of 2008, the Taliban had destroyed some 400 schools.

Determined to go to school and with a firm belief in her right to an education, Malala stood up to the Taliban.
Alongside her father, Malala quickly became a critic of their tactics. "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to
education?" she once said on Pakistani TV.

In early 2009, Malala was 11 years old when she started to blog anonymously on the British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC). She wrote about life in the Swat Valley under Taliban rule, and about her desire to go to school. Using the name
"Gul Makai," she described being forced to stay at home, and she questioned the motives of the Taliban.

Malala used the media and continued her public campaign for her right to go to school. Her voice grew louder, and over
the course of the next three years, she and her father became known throughout Pakistan for their determination to
give Pakistani girls access to a free quality education. Her activism resulted in a nomination for the International
Children's Peace Prize in 2011. That same year, she was awarded Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize. But, not
everyone supported and welcomed her campaign to bring about change in Swat. On the morning of October 9, 2012,
15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was shot by the Taliban.

In March 2013, after weeks of treatment and therapy, Malala was able to begin attending school in Birmingham. After
the shooting, her incredible recovery and return to school resulted in a global outpouring of support for Malala. On
July 12, 2013, her 16th birthday, Malala visited New York and spoke at the United Nations. Later that year, she
published her first book, an autobiography entitled "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot
by the Taliban." On October 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Malala the
prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

In October 2014, Malala, was named a Nobel Peace Prize winner. At age 17, she became the youngest person to
receive this prize. Accepting the award, Malala reaffirmed that "This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten
children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who
want change."
Today, the Malala Fund has become an organization that, through education, empowers girls to achieve their
potential and become confident and strong leader in their own countries.
Malala Yousafzai Biography

Children's Activist, Women's Rights Activist (1997–)

QUOTES

“If I win Nobel Peace Prize, it would be a great opportunity for me, but if I don't get it, it's not important because my
goal is not to get Nobel Peace Prize, my goal is to get peace and my goal is to see the education of every child.”

—Malala Yousafzai

After the Attack

On October 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Yousafzai the Sakharov
Prize for Freedom of Thought. That same year, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't win the prize,
but was named a nominee again in March 2014.

For her 18th birthday on July 12, 2015, also called Malala Day, the young activist continued to take action on global
education by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls in Lebanon. "Today on my first day as an adult, on behalf of the
world's children, I demand of leaders we must invest in books instead of bullets," Yousafzai proclaimed in one of the
school's classrooms.

In October 2015, a documentary about Yousafzai's life was released. HE NAMED ME MALALA,
1997 Growing up in Swat Valley

Malala was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, a town in the Swat District of north-west Pakistan. Her father, Ziauddin
Yousafzai named her after Malalai, a Pashtun heroine.

2009 Becoming an Education Activist

Malala shared her father’s passion for learning and loved going to school. In 2009, as the Taliban’s military hold on Swat
intensified, Malala began writing a blog for the BBC Urdu service under a pseudonym, about fears that her school would
be attacked and the increasing military activity in Swat. Television and music were banned, women were prevented
from going shopping and then Ziauddin was told that his school had to close.

Malala and her father received death threats but continued to speak out for the right to education. Around this time,
Malala was featured in a documentary made for The New York Times and was revealed as the author of the BBC blog.

2011 Awarded Pakistan's First National Youth Peace Prize

In 2011, she received Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize and was nominated by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for
the International Children's Peace Prize. In response to her rising popularity and national recognition, Taliban leaders
voted to kill her.

2012 Attacked for Going to School

On 9 October 2012, as Malala and her friends were travelling home from school, a masked gunman entered their school
bus and asked for Malala by name. She was shot with a single bullet which went through her head, neck and shoulder.
Two of her friends were also injured in the attack.

Malala survived the initial attack, but was in a critical condition. She was moved to Birmingham in the United Kingdom
for treatment at a hospital that specialises in military injuries. She was not discharged until January, 2013 by which time
she had been joined by her family in the UK.

The Taliban's attempt to kill Malala received worldwide condemnation and led to protests across Pakistan. In the weeks
after the attack, over 2 million people signed a right to education petition, and the National Assembly swiftly ratified
Pakistan's first Right To Free and Compulsory Education Bill.

A Global Advocate for Girls' Education

2013 Establishing the Malala Fund

Malala became a global advocate for the millions of girls being denied a formal education because of social, economic,
legal and political factors. In 2013, Malala and Ziauddin co-founded the Malala Fund to bring awareness to the social and
economic impact of girls' education and to empower girls to raise their voices, to unlock their potential and to demand
change.

2014 Nobel Peace Prize

Malala accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on 10 December, 2014 with Indian children's rights and education advocate
Kailash Satyarthi. Malala contributed her entire prize money of more than $500,000 to financing the creation of a
secondary school for girls in Pakistan.