Malala Yousufzai, the 17-year-old Pakistani girl education campaigner who was shot in the head in 2012 by a Taliban gunman, is the youngest person ever to win a Nobel Prize.
Malala won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize along with Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi.
In naming her for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said: “Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzay has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations. This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle, she has become a leading spokesperson for girl’s rights to education.”
Born July 12, 1997, in a Sunni Muslim family at Mingora in Pakistan's Swat Valley, Malala attended a school run by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai.
After the Taliban started attacking girls' schools in Swat, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar, Pakistan, in September 2008, on “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?”
The next year, she started writing a blog under the pen name Gul Makal for the BBC on life under Taliban threats, but her identity was given away in December the same year.
Her activism did not go unnoticed and, in 2011 she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize, also known as the Children's Nobel. The same year she was awarded the National Youth Peace Prize of Pakistan.
Then on Oct 9, 2012, Malala was shot in the head while on her way to school by a Taliban militant. Her friends were also injured.
From that horrific moment two years ago to this momentous October morning, the 17-year-old's tale has been one of immense inspiration for millions of people across the world who value children's - and not just girls' - rights and education.
After being shot, a critically injured Malala was airlifted to a military hospital in Peshawar. There a damaged portion of her skull had to be removed. Later the Pakistan government at its expense, airlifted her to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, England, where she was treated for life-threatening injuries and pulled back from the brink.
Malala did not become famous only two years ago after the appalling Taliban attack on her. Rather, Taliban militants shot at her because she had already earned name for raising her voice for girls' right to education much before that, defying Taliban diktat.
In England, after being discharged from hospital, she started attending Birmingham High School in March 2013.
On July 12 that year, her 16th birthday, she gave a speech at the UN. She said: “I speak - not for myself, but for all girls and boys. I raise up my voice - not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights: Their right to live in peace; their right to be treated with dignity; their right to equality of opportunity; their right to be educated.”
In October 2013, she released her autobiography: “I am Malala: The girl who stood up for education and was shot by the Taliban.”
The same month, the European Parliament conferred on her the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year too but did not get it.
This year she became the Nobel laureate, the youngest ever. She was in school in Birmingham when the good news floated in.
Speaking at United Nations Malala said Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty, injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright peaceful future.
So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.
"One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world."
Although many of us may not be able to relate to the extreme circumstances that Malala has struggled under, however her story does not fail to inspire any woman who cares to listen. It is a story of overcoming your fear and standing up in your uniqueness, looking fear in the eye.
Each one of us has a story to tell – if you have a story, we would like to hear from you. Write to us on iamwoman@xtra.co.nz or join us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/womanunlimited