Malala Yousafzai wins Nobel peace prize 2014

The defiance of a young Pakistani girl to confront terror and the assassination bullet has not only inspired millions of young women to believe they can achieve, but also the judges for the prestigious Nobel Prize for peace.

Malala Yousafzai now joins those greats including Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela in the pantheon of recipients.

Malala, now 17, was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years ago in her home country of Pakistan after coming to prominence for her campaigning for education for girls.

She won for what the Nobel committee called her “heroic struggle” for girls’ right to an education.

After her own personal struggle of survival, she has become a global spokesperson for the campaign for girls’ education, speaking at the UN, meeting Barack Obama, and being named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people.

In a statement, the committee said:

Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations.

This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education.”

Well done Malala, we are very proud of our courageous sister.

Simon Woolley