Malala Yousafzai, the global icon of children’s rights who survived a near fatal Taliban gun attack, becomes the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate on Wednesday, adding yet another distinction to a long list.
The 17-year-old will receive the peace prize in Oslo with the Indian campaigner Kailash Satyarthi, 60, who has fought for 35 years to free thousands of children from virtual slave labour.
Malala has already received a host of awards, standing ovations and plaudits from the United Nations to Buckingham Palace.
But on the eve of the ceremony she said she was far from ready to rest on her laurels.
“We are not here just to accept our award, get this medal and go back home. We are here to tell children especially that you need to stand up, you need to speak up for your rights … It is you who can change the world,” Malala told a press conference at the Nobel Institute in Oslo.
