Hello Everyone!
In today’s blog we will be learning about World Malala Day declared by the United Nations to honor Malala Yousafzai. We will discuss in detail about who Malala Yousafzai is, how this young activist played an important role in helping society, her achievements and other important points.
Let’s start by knowing about Malala Yousafzai.
Who is Malala Yousafzai?
Malala was born on 12 July, 1997 in Mingora, Pakistan. She is a Pakistani activist for female education. She was shot in the head by the Taliban on 9th October, 2012 as she spoke against the Taliban’s restriction on girls’ education in Pakistan.
After recovering she established the Malala Fund with her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai in 2013. The fund aims at girls’ right to 12 years of safe, free and quality education. Malala fund supports 11 Education Champions in India.
Malala Day
The United Nations declared 12th July of every year to be recognized as Malala Day to celebrate the birthday of Malala Yousafzai. On her birthday on 12 July, 2013 she spoke at the United Nations for worldwide access to education.
The Former Secretary General of United Nations Ban Ki Moon nicknamed her 16th birthday as Malala Day. It is celebrated to recognize the courage of the young activist to fight for the rights of women and children across the globe.
Awards and Achievements
- In 2012, she received Pakistan’s first National Youth Prize and 2013 Sakharov Prize.
- In 2014 she was honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize along with Kailash Sathyarthi of India. She was 17 when she received the Nobel Prize being the youngest ever Nobel prize Laureate.
- In October 2013, Yousafzai’s memoir I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban was published. It was co-written with British journalist Christina Lamb.
- A 2015 documentary titled He Named Me Malala was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
- In 2020, an Indian Hindi language film titled Gul Makai was released portraying her.
Malala Yousafzai’s Scholarship Act
The U.S. Congress passed in order to increase the scholarships to Pkistani women in higher education.The bill requires the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to give at least 50% of scholarship to Pakistani women from 2020 to 2022.
With this we come to the end of this blog. We have covered major points related to the young activist Malala Yousafzai and how she contributed towards society. We hope it was an interesting read for you.
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