Recently, we gave you a list of reasons that 17-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai is an inspiration. Well it looks like there’s yet another reason we should be inspired by the world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
Malala Yousafzai — who gained worldwide recognition for surviving gunshots to the head at the hands of the Taliban in 2012 — is a known advocate for education. Yesterday, she announced that the $50,000 she received from World Children’s Prize would be donated to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which is currently focused on rebuilding schools affected by the conflict in Gaza.
Many of these schools were hit by Israeli shells during the weeks of bombing and fighting. The Israel-Hamas conflict left more than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis dead. According to the Daily Beast, Malala’s prize money will help reconstruct 65 damaged schools.
“Innocent Palestinian children have suffered terribly and for too long,” Yousafzai said. “We must all work to ensure Palestinian boys and girls, and all children everywhere, receive a quality education in a safe environment. Because without education, there will never be peace.”
Malala was only a young girl when she became an activist for education rights and women’s rights. At the age of 11, she began blogging about her life under Taliban rule. This was so powerful that in 2009, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life. Her actions were seen as unacceptable by the Taliban and in 2012, Malala was shot in the head and neck by a gunman in an assassination attempt. The strong, young lady survived the attack and continues to fight for what she believes in.
The Malala fund, which was formed in October 2012, has been actively supporting education and safety in Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan and Kenya.
