Why is July 12 celebrated as Malala Day

Malala
Yousafzai, 25, is a Pakistani woman advocating for the right of women to pursue
an education. In 2014, Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her
relentless pursuit for the education of women. The United Nations celebrates
July 12 as Malala Day on Malala Yousafzai’s birthday. The observance of Malala
Day aims to appeal to world leaders to pay attention to educating women.

Who is
Malala Yousafzai?

Malala
Yousafzai was born in Pakistan’s Swat district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province on July 12, 1997. According to the United Nations website, Malala
became “an international symbol for the fight for girls’ education after she
was shot in 2012 for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education in her
home country of Pakistan.”

The
incident, at the age of 15, made Malala a symbol of courage for Pakistan and the
world. She had, since 2009, started writing about what life was under Taliban
rule. It was her words that caught the world’s attention. They were the same
words that made the Pakistan government come up with a Right to Education bill
with focus on education of girls.

Malala
Yousafzai went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17 and
subsequently studied Philosophy, Economics and Politics at the University of
Oxford.

Malala
Yousafzai: The day she was shot

On October 9,
2012, Malala Yousafzai was returning home in a school bus. On her way, a member
of the Pakistani Taliban entered the bus and shot one bullet into her left
temple. The bullet grazed her eye, skull and brain, lacerating her facial
nerve, shattering her eardrum and breaking her jaw joints, according to her
statement after recovery.

“I was in
an induced coma. I don’t remember anything from the day of the shooting until
the moment I woke up at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK. When I
opened my eyes, I was relieved to realise I was alive,” she said in a later account.

In 2017,
Malala Yousafzai was designated as a United Nations Messenger of Peace to help
raise awareness about the importance of girls’ education.