Malala Yousafzai Honored as Harvard’s Humanitarian of the Year

On Friday, Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the head last October by Taliban militants, was honored as Harvard University’s humanitarian of the year.

Ever since making a stunning recovery from her gunshot wound, Malala has become an outspoken advocate for girls’ education, which is why Harvard gave her its 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award. After being introduced by the university’s president Drew Gilpin Faust, Malala offered the crowd at Harvard a pretty moving speech about why she feels compelled to speak out for women’s rights and show the people who hurt her that they can’t use fear to keep girls from gaining equal access to education.

From the CBS report:

The so-called Taliban were afraid of women’s power and were afraid of the power of education,” she told hundreds of students, faculty members and well-wishers who packed Harvard’s ornate Sanders Theater for the award ceremony.

Malala highlighted the fact that very few people spoke out against what was happening in her home region.

“Although few people spoke, but the voice for peace and education was powerful,” she said.

Earlier this month, Malala helped open Europe’s largest public library in Birmingham, England. In July, her 16th birthday, her public speaking circuit took her in front of the United Nations, where she spoke to an audience of student delegates.