Reflection task 3

Malala Yousafzai  

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani student and education activist from the town of Mingora in the Swat District of Pakistan. She is known for her activism for rights to education and for women, especially in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. In 2009, at the age of 11–12, Malala wrote a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC – she spoke about her life under Taliban rule, their attempts to take control of the valley, and her own views on promoting education for girls. The following summer, a New York Times documentary was filmed about her life while the Pakistani military intervened in the region. Malala show real bravery by giving interviews in newspapers and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by South African activist Desmond Tutu.

On 9 October 2012, Malala was shot in the head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen while she was coming home with a school bus. In the following days she remained unconscious and in critical condition, but later her condition improved enough and she was sent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, for intensive rehabilitation. On 12 October, a group of 50 Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā (gave a formal legal opinion )against those who tried to kill her, but the Taliban tried to kill Malala and her father again.

The assassination attempt sparked a national and international support for Malala. In the 29 April 2013 issue of Time magazine, Malala was featured on the magazine's front cover and as one of "The 100 Most Influential People in the World". She was the winner of Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize and was nominated for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize - these are just some of the recognitions she received.

In October 2013 Malala's memoir "I Am Malala", cowritten with British journalist Christina Lamb was released.