The story of Malala Yousafzei is beyond inspirational. Born in Pakistan in 1997, at a young age she began to speak out against the terrorist acts of the Taliban and was an advocate for the rights of women to an education after the terrorist group began to attack girls’ schools in Swat.

As well as speaking publicly in school about her thoughts on education for women, at the age of eleven, Malala also began to write for the BBC under the pseudonym ‘Gul Makai’, narrating the struggles of young women being educated in Pakistan in an area affected by Taliban rule.

Malala brought to light the struggles facing young women like herself and highlighted the courage it took to continue to attend school, knowing that a terrorist organization was targeting girls in education. In her very first diary entry for the BBC, Malala described how only 11 girls in a class of 27 had showed up for their classes one morning and how she received death threats from a stranger on her journey to school.

Through her diary, people all over the world were able to learn of the strict restrictions imposed in areas affected by Taliban control and of the lifestyle to which young women were subjected in order to reduce their risk of becoming a target of the terrorist group. Through various entries in her BBC-published diary, Malala described how girls were advised not to wear school uniform or colourful clothes, and her fears that her school would not reopen after the winter holidays due to Taliban orders.

Eventually, Malala and her family were forced to flee from their home in Swat when the Taliban threat became too great. Malala’s commitment to activism grew stronger as she engaged in public speaking and appeals to the US envoy, Richard Holbrooke, for awareness of the plight of women seeking education around the world.

Yet, despite all that this incredible work Malala was doing from an early age, most of us never heard of her until her story became global after she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012. After the attack, Malala was brought to Birmingham in the UK, where she has continued to be an activist for the universal right to an education.

Due to her astounding courage and perseverance in advocating for the rights of women in education, Malala has won many awards for peace, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, making her the youngest recipient of this prize in the history of the award at seventeen years of age.

Yet, even though Malala has been recognized for her achievements through many national and international peace awards, I think her latest achievements – 6 A+s and 4 As on her GCSE – are perhaps the greatest reflection of her commitment to education.

It is a cause for celebration and a reason to be inspired when a young woman who has lived under terrorist rule, been displaced from her home, threatened and shot, not only remains courageous enough to stand true to her cause, but also acts as a living example of the power of education by proving herself as a remarkable student. Malala’s ambition is to study at Oxford University and she is quoted in The Guardian as saying “My dream is to empower myself with education, and then it is a weapon”.

When talking of the advancement of peace in our world, it is heartening to see an incredible young woman in the spotlight choosing education as a weapon. If only more political leaders would follow in her footsteps, I think we’d all be a lot closer to world peace. Often, when the question of terrorism arises, I hear people saying that we ‘must not give into terror’ and their solution is to fight fire with fire. However, I think it is profound, to see an example of an individual who has truly resisted terror by pursuing a life of peace and benevolent activism, setting an example for us all.

References

((Malala’s Diary, //www.malala-yousafzai.com/2012/10/Malala-Diary-for-BBC.html))

((The Guardian, 21st August 2015, //www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/aug/21/malala-yousafzai-gcse-education-a-grades))