Photo Truong-Ngoc / Wikimedia Commons
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will on April 10 designate Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai, global advocate for girls’ education and the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, as a UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education.
The Messenger of Peace designation ceremony will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York at an event to be held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on Monday. The designation will be followed by a conversation between the Secretary-General, Ms. Yousafzai and youth representatives around the world on the theme of girls’ education.
“Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people,” the Secretary-General said on his selection of Ms. Yousafzai for the designation.
“Her courageous activism for girls’ education has already energized so many people around the world. Now as our youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world,”he said in a statement.
Born on 12 July 1997 in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, Ms. Yousafzai became an international symbol for the fight for girls’ education after being shot on 9 October 2012 for opposing Taliban restrictions on female education. She survived the attack and became an advocate for the millions of girls denied a formal education worldwide.
In 2013, Ms. Yousafzai and her father, Mr. Ziauddin Yousafzai, co-founded Malala Fund to bring awareness to the social and economic impact of girls’ education and to empower girls to demand change. Ms. Yousafzai became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate on 10 December 2014.
Ms. Yousafzai is the first Messenger of Peace designated by Secretary-General Guterres. United Nations Messengers of Peace are widely recognized public figures, who help to raise worldwide awareness of the Organization’s ideals and activities. Through their public appearances, contacts with the international media and humanitarian work, they expand public understanding of how the UN helps to improve the lives of people everywhere.
