Teen Activist Receives Pakistan's National Peace Award

Malala Yousufzai, a 13-year-old girl from the tribal area of Swat, has been awarded Pakistan’s first ever Peace Award for Youth for her bravery in reporting the details of a bloody Taliban insurgency in the region.

Yousufzai wrote anonymous diaries for the BBC that related how the Taliban were blowing up schools for girls and engaging in killings and beheadings.  In the absence of media reports, Yousufzai’s was the only voice the world was hearing from Swat. 

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani presented the National Peace Award to Yousufzai, which he said is now named for her and will be conferred annually on an outstanding Pakistani under the age of 18.

“I convinced my friends and other classmates of the importance of education and told them that our primary education will decide our future,” said Yousufzai. She said she pleaded with girls and their parents not to bow to Taliban threats against girls’ education and successfully convinced many families to continue educating their daughters. “I am thankful not only to the students but also to their parents for honoring my requests and sending their daughters back to school.”

Yousufzai is an active member of Awami National Party, which participates in NDI programs. In June 2011, she participated in an NDI-sponsored youth policy development workshop in Peshawar.

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Published Jan. 26, 2012