Malala Yousafzai: One Girl, One Hope, and One Mission – Education for All

Narrative

At the age of 15, Malala Yousafzai was shot in her head by the Taliban for practicing her basic human right to receive an education. After months in hospitals and rehabilitation, she overcame the pain of her body and heart in a new land. She made a choice to become a beacon of light for many other young girls (and children in general) in oppressive, conservative, fundamentalist, and gender-discriminating societies where there are threats to girls’ education, identities, and sometimes, survival.

For decades, children’s right to education has been a topic of discussion for many well-known and resourceful organizations like UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund). Data from UNESCO’s Institute of Statistics (2019) shares that 258 million children, adolescents, and youth are out of school with no progress in reducing out-of-school numbers. This is specifically challenging for the female population in parts of the world where opportunities or access are extremely limited. According to UNESCO estimates, around the world, 129 million girls are out of school, including 32 million of primary school age and 97 million of secondary school age. For girls in some parts of the world, education opportunities can be especially limited (UNICEF, n.d.). Among the many barriers to education for girls are socio-cultural, political, and societal mindsets. Malala’s were similar.

Born in Pakistan (Mingora) on July 12, 1997, Malala lived with her parents and two younger brothers. Her father was a schoolteacher who supported her curiosity and thirst for knowledge and education. Taliban began to control the Swat Valley in 2007 and quickly gained control over the socio-political situation in Northwestern Pakistan. Cultural and educational activities for girls were banned, there were terror campaigns and suicide attacks, and around 400 schools in the area were destroyed by the Taliban by the end of 2008.

Malala was concerned and became a critic of the Taliban’s terror campaign. How could the Taliban take away a basic right to education? This question was heard on the Pakistani television. As time went by, Malala started writing blogs using the name “Gul Makai” to tell her story of being forced to stay at home, the circumstances of life in her hometown under Taliban rule, and to express her fear of war and the nightmares about being afraid to go to school.

As the war between Pakistan and the Taliban was approaching, Malala was forced to leave her hometown and seek safety as an internally displaced person (IDP) elsewhere. The situation settled down, Malala returned to her hometown and continued her fight for her right to go to school via blogs and media. With her confidence, bravery, and resilience, she and her father were gaining popularity in and outside Pakistan for their determination to girls’ access to quality education. She was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011 and received an award for Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize. As a young girl in a male-dominating society like Pakistan, Malala was extremely courageous and lionhearted to criticize the Taliban and run her awareness campaign to educate girls about their right to receive an education. She had this sense of urgency to speak on this important topic, not just for the girls of Pakistan but girls all around the world.

Shortly after that, in October 2012, Malala’s school bus was stopped by two members of the Taliban. Upon revealing her identity as Malala, she was shot three times by a young bearded Talib as a punishment for asking for her right to receive an education. Malala was seriously wounded and was airlifted to a Pakistani military hospital in Peshawar and then to an intensive care unit in Birmingham, England, where she was taken out of a medically induced coma. She was able to recover and began attending school in March 2013 in Birmingham.

After being featured on the cover of Vogue Magazine, she tweeted,