Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, has become the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Yousafzai, 19, was appointed by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and will help promote girl’s education around the world as part of her new role.
The Pakistani education activist came to prominence when a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on her school bus in 2012 as punishment for campaigning for girls to go to school which defied the militant Islamic group’s ban on female education.
Yousafzai has since continued campaigning on the world stage and in 2014 became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.
“Even in the face of grave danger, Malala Yousafzai has shown an unwavering commitment to the rights of women, girls and all people,” Guterres said in statement.
“Her courageous activism for girls’ education has already energised so many people around the world. Now as our youngest-ever U.N. Messenger of Peace, Malala can do even more to help create a more just and peaceful world.”
Yousafzai, who received medical treatment in Britain where she has since studied, has also set up the Malala Fund to support girls’ education projects in developing countries.
A regular speaker on the global stage, Yousafzai visited refugee camps in Rwanda and Kenya last July to highlight the plight of refugee girls from Burundi and Somalia.
By Lin Taylor @linnytayls, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; c Thomson Reuters Foundation.
