Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been included in the BBC’s list of 100 inspiring and influential women for 2021.
“This year’s list is highlighting those who are hitting “reset” — women playing their part to reinvent our society, our culture, and our world,” the publication said on its website.
Malala, who is now a UN Messenger of Peace, has been vocal about young women’s right to education since she was 11. She was shot by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in 2012 for speaking up against insurgency and in favor of girls’ education.
She was taken to the United Kingdom (UK) for surgery and has been living there ever since because of direct threats to her life from the Taliban.
Besides her activism, Malala runs the non-profit Malala Fund that is “aiming to build a world where every girl can learn and lead without fear”.
She said,
Hundreds of millions of girls are out of school today. I want to see a world where every girl can access 12 years of free, safe, and quality education; where all girls can learn and lead.
Malala tied the knot last month with Asser Malik, an employee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), in a small Islamic ceremony in Birmingham, England.
Women from Afghanistan have a special mention on BBC’s list as they make up half of it. It explained that “this year’s list recognizes the scope of their bravery and their achievements as they are forced to reset their lives”.
Other notable entries are Samoa’s first female Prime Minister, Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa; Professor Heidi J Larson, who heads The Vaccine Confidence Project; and acclaimed author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.