Malala Yousafzai (Pakistani Begum Rokeya Sakhawat)

Malala Yousafzai

Chair of District Child Assembly Swat (2009–2011)

Born : 12 July 1997 (age 15), Mingora,North West Frontier Province, Pakistan

Father’s Name: Ziauddin Yousafzai

Nationality : Pakistani

Political party : None

Religion : Islam

Ethnicity : Pashtun

Get Publicity for : Youth activism, women's rights activism, educationism, shot by Taliban

Organizations : Malala Education Fund

Awards : International Children's Peace Prize (Runner-up, 2011) , National Youth Peace Prize (2011)

Malala Yousafzai was born into a Muslim family of Pashtun ethnicity in 12 July 1997. Her first name is Malala, meaning "grief stricken". Her last name, Yousufzai, is that of a large Pashtun tribal confederation that is predominant in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where she grew up. She lived with her two younger brothers and her parents. Affectionately she referred to the region as "my Swat."

As early as September 2008, Yousafzai apparently started speaking about right of education. She went to Peshawar to speak at the local press club. "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" It was covered by newspapers and television channels, throughout the region. She became familar for her education and women's rights activism in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban banned girls from attending school. In early 2009 (age 11/12), Yousafzai wrote a blog for BBC under a pseudonym detailing her life under Taliban rule, Taliban’s attempts to take control of the valley, and her views on promoting education for girls.

“I had a terrible dream yesterday with military helicopters and the Taleban. I have had such dreams since the launch of the military operation in Swat. My mother made me breakfast and I went off to school. I was afraid going to school because the Taleban had issued an edict banning all girls from attending schools.

Only 11 students attended the class out of 27. The number decreased because of Taleban's edict. My three friends have shifted to Peshawar, Lahore and Rawalpindi with their families after this edict.

On my way from school to home I heard a man saying 'I will kill you'. I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone.”

Malala Yousafzai, 3 January 2009 BBC blog entry

 In summer, a New York Times filmed a documentary about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region, culminating in the Second Battle of Swat. Yousafzai began to rise in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television and taking a position as chairperson of the District Child Assembly Swat.

On 9 October 2012, Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while returning home on a school bus. She was sent to a hospital in the United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation and her physical condition was improved. On 12 October, In Pakistan a group of 50 Islamic clerics issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her, but the Taliban announced its intent to kill Yousafzai and her father.

In Yousafzai's name, Gordon Brown (Former British Prime Minister and current UN Special Envoy for Global Education) launched a United Nations petition. Announcing the slogan "I am Malala" and demanding that all children of the world will go to school by the end of 2015. UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon has announced that November 10 will be celebrated as Malala day.

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