Breaking Boundaries In: International Human Rights & Education
Dedicated, determined, and an inspiration to us all. Malala Yousafzai's mission of securing women the right to an education, has by no means been an easy one. At the age of 15, she nearly lost her life after being targeted by the Taliban, a Sunni Islamist organization operating primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 2014, two years after the attack, which resulted in months of rehabilitation and numerous surgeries, Yousafzai and her family relocated to the UK, where she would make it her life's mission to ensure that girls of all ethnicities, religions, and race are granted the right to an education that is free of charge, safe, and of quality. In December of that year, her charity organization the Malala Fund, which was co-founded by her father Ziauddin, earned her a Nobel Peace Prize, making her the youngest-ever Nobel laureate. Today, she can be found leading international seminars and talks, as well as travelling the world to give girls fighting poverty, wars, child marriages, and gender discrimination a voice and the chance to go to school. "Quality education for girls is not just learning books, passing exams and getting jobs. It is empowerment, freedom and nourishment. It is independence, giving them the ability to stand on their own two feet, making them resilient," Yousafzai said of her mission during the Building the Resilience of Women and Girls in the Arab Region conference, which took place in Sharjah, UAE in Oct. 2016.