International Malala Day is celebrated every year on July 12 to honor the Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai. Malala, who now advocates for women’s rights to education around the world, was not allowed to attend school as a child. Malala, however, did not accept it and refused to stay at home. As a result of her advocacy for providing education to young girls, she was nearly killed.
Malala Day: History
On July 12, 2013, Malala delivered an eloquent speech at the headquarters of the United Nations. Global access to women’s education must be ensured, and world leaders must reform their policies. In response to her remarkable speech, the teenager received several rounds of standing ovations. As July 12 is also her birthday, the UN promptly declared the day ‘Malala Day’.
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Who is Malala Yousafzai?
Malala was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. She received a similar education to a boy thanks to her father, Ziauddin, who ran a girls’ school. When Malala was only 11, she began speaking out about education rights. She also blogged for the BBC as part of her activism.
She began advocating for women’s rights in education in 2008, when she was born in Mingora, Pakistan. It was well known to her that the Taliban has been hostile to women’s education for decades. During the Taliban occupation of Swat, Malala had a blog about her life on BBC Urdu.
Her story quickly caught the attention of the media around the world, and she gave a number of interviews with newspapers and television shows. In October 2012, Taliban gunmen attacked the teenager and left him critically injured. She was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban after her bus was hijacked. She was sent to the United Kingdom for further treatment after initial treatment in Pakistan.
On her 16th birthday, nine months after being shot, the fierce girl delivered a speech at UN headquarters.
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Some interesting facts about Malala:
- At the age of 17, Malala became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
- In the aftermath of the violent assassination attempt on the teenager, Pakistan created the first Right to Education Bill.
- Malala left everyone speechless when she spoke about “Every child’s right to education” at the United Nations on 12 July 2013.
- In 2014, Malala was awarded an honorary doctorate by King’s College for her activism and relentless courage.
- In her early twenties, the young activist opened an all-girls school for Syrian refugees, calling on world leaders to provide ‘books and not bullets’.
- Many people are unaware that an asteroid named Malala was discovered in 2015.