Malala Yousafzai: From Taliban Target to Nobel Laureate

Malala Yousafzai, born July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan, was shot by the Taliban on October 9, 2012, for advocating girls' education. She survived and became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2014. Her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, ran Khushal Public School and inspired her activism. At age 11, she blogged anonymously for the BBC under 'Gul Makai' about life under Taliban rule. After the Taliban banned girls' education in January 2009, Malala spoke out, leading to international recognition. She was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by Desmond Tutu in 2011 and won Pakistan's National Youth Peace Prize. Following the attack, she co-founded the Malala Fund with her father, investing $47 million in girls' education globally. She addressed the UN on her 16th birthday in 2013 and met with world leaders, including President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria regarding Boko Haram kidnappings. In January 2025, she urged Muslim leaders at an Islamabad summit to classify gender apartheid as a crime under international law. Malala graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.