What is Malala Day?
Every year on July 12th, the world commemorates Malala Yousafzai's birthday. Malala was the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize ever at age 17. The day also recognizes the rights of children and women.
Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan, on July 12th, 1997. Malala's father was an educator, and as a result, she developed a thirst for knowledge. The Taliban took over the city in which she lived and barred girls from attending classes in 2007. Malala demonstrated a great deal of courage by standing up to the Taliban as a child. Malala began a blog in 2009 and wrote about life under Taliban rule. She also wrote about her desire to go to school. For three years, she and her father campaigned for the right for girls to attend school.
On the morning of October 9th, 2012, Taliban gunmen fired Malala Yousafzai in the head. At the time, she was just 15 years old. Doctors transferred her to an ICU in Birmingham, England, after four days in a military hospital. Malala began attending Birmingham school after several surgeries and weeks of rehabilitative therapy.
The young lady, who was 16 years old on her 16th birthday, travelled to New York and spoke at the United Nations on her 16th birthday. Malala was named one of the world's most influential individuals in 2013 by TIME Magazine. Malala was named a Nobel Peace Prize winner a year ago. Malala has been awarded the United Nations Human Rights Prize and The Liberty Medal, as well as this prestigious award. Malala began her Oxford studies in 2017. She currently lives in Birmingham and continues to campaign for women's rights and education.
