Malala Yousafzai Nobel Peace Prize Speech

In the name of God the Most Gracious the Most Merciful He is the one who sees and is aware He is the one who sees and sees He is the one who sees and is aware Look and look again He glanced and stared intently Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support and love thank you for the letters and cards I still receive from all corners of the globe Your kind and encouraging words strengthen and inspire me I would like to thank my parents for their unconditional love Thank you to my father for never clipping my wings and for letting me fly Thank you to my mother for teaching me patience and for always speaking the truth a principle we deeply believe embodies the true spirit of Islam And thank you as well to all my wonderful teachers who inspired me to believe in myself and be brave I am proud—indeed I am truly proud—to be the first Pashtun the first Pakistani and the youngest person to receive this award Along with that I'm pretty sure I'm also the first Nobel Peace Prize recipient who still squabbles with her younger brothers I want peace everywhere but my brothers and I are still working on that I'm also honored to receive this award alongside Kailash Satyarthi a longtime champion for children's rights—twice as long as I've been alive I'm proud that we can work together proving to the world that an Indian and a Pakistani can collaborate to achieve their shared goals for children's rights And today I'm truly happy to be here with all of you united in fighting for a cause that matters This award is not just mine—it’s for the forgotten children who long for education for the frightened ones who dream of peace and for the voiceless who yearn for change I'm here to defend their rights and amplify their voice—not to pity them but to take action And so it becomes the last time we see a child denied an education I’ve found that people describe me in many different ways—some call me the girl shot by the Taliban others the girl who fought for her rights Some people now call me a Nobel laureate but my brothers still see me as that annoying bossy sister As far as I know I'm simply someone deeply committed—and perhaps even stubborn—about ensuring every child receives a quality education every woman enjoys equal rights and peace prevails in every corner of the world Education is one of life's greatest blessings and essential needs a truth I've experienced firsthand over the past 17 years of my life In my paradise home of Swat I always cherished learning and uncovering new things I still remember how my friends and I would adorn our hands with henna on special occasions Instead of sketching flowers and patterns we painted our hands with mathematical formulas and equations We were driven by a thirst for knowledge a hunger for education because our future lay right there within those classroom walls But things didn’t stay the same When I was in Swat a place once known for its tourism and beauty it suddenly turned into a hotspot for terrorism I was only ten years old when over 400 schools were destroyed Women were whipped people were killed and our beautiful dreams turned into nightmares Education went from being a right to becoming a crime and girls were barred from attending school When my world suddenly changed so did my priorities I had two choices: stay silent and wait to be killed or speak out and then be killed I chose the second I decided to speak up We couldn't simply stand by and watch terrorists inflict injustice ruthlessly kill people and distort the name of Islam We chose to speak out and tell them Have you not learned that in the Holy Quran Allah says that killing one person is as if you have killed all of humanity Do you not know that Muhammad peace be upon him the Prophet of Mercy said: Do not harm yourself or others And don't you know that the very first word of the Holy Quran is Iqra meaning "read" The terrorists tried to silence us attacking me and my friends here today on our school bus in 2012 But neither their ideas nor their bullets could prevail We endured And ever since that day our voices have grown stronger and stronger I share my story not because it’s rare but because it’s common—it’s the story of countless girls And my courageous sister Kainat Somro who endured severe abuse and extreme violence—her brother was killed yet she refused to break Also my sisters here whom I’ve met through my Malala Fund campaign—my 16-year-old brave sister Mauzoon from Syria now living in Jordan as a refugee who travels from tent to tent inspiring girls and boys to keep learning And my sister Amina from northern Nigeria where Boko Haram threatens girls blocks their education and even kidnaps them simply for wanting to go to school Though I may seem like just one girl one person five feet two inches tall and only five feet with my high heels I am not a solitary voice—I am many I am Malala but I am also Shazia I am Kainat I am Kainat Somro I am Mauzoon I am Amina I am those 66 million girls denied an education And today I am not raising my voice— it is the voice of those 66 million girls Sometimes people ask me why girls should go to school why it matters for them but I believe the more important question is why shouldn't they Why shouldn't they have the right to an education Dear brothers and sisters today in half of the world we witness rapid progress and development Yet in many countries millions continue to endure the enduring hardships of war poverty and injustice We still witness conflicts in which innocent lives are lost and children are left orphaned We witness countless individuals being forced to flee their homes in Syria Gaza and Iraq In Afghanistan families are being killed in suicide attacks and bomb explosions Many children across Africa lack access to education due to poverty And as I mentioned we continue to see girls in northern Nigeria who lack the freedom to attend school One of my closest school friends the same age as me who has always been a bold and confident girl dreamed of becoming a doctor But her dream remained just that—a dream At just twelve years old she was forced into marriage and soon gave birth to a son She became a mother at the age of fourteen herself still a child I know she could have been an excellent doctor but she couldn't because she was a girl That's why I channel the Nobel Peace Prize money into the Malala Fund to help provide quality education for girls everywhere and to amplify their voices The first place this funding will go is where my heart is—building schools in Pakistan particularly in my home regions of Swat and Shangla This is where I will begin but it is not where I will stop I will continue this fight until I see every child every single child in school Dear brothers and sisters extraordinary individuals who brought about change—like Martin Luther King Nelson Mandela Mother Teresa and Aung San Suu Kyi—once stood on this very stage I hope the steps Kailash Satyarthi and I have taken so far—and will take on this journey—will bring lasting change My greatest hope is that this will be the final time we have to fight for education—let's resolve this once and for all We've already taken many steps now is the time to take a leap It's no longer about urging world leaders to recognize the importance of education They already know it— their own children attend good schools Now is the time to call them to act on behalf of every child in the world We urge world leaders to come together and make education their highest priority Fifteen years ago world leaders agreed on a set of global objectives known as the Millennium Development Goals Since then we've witnessed some progress: the number of children out of school has been cut in half as Kailash Satyarthi noted Yet the world concentrated solely on primary education and progress failed to reach everyone In 2015 representatives from around the world will gather at the United Nations to establish the next set of goals—the Sustainable Development Goals This will shape the world's aspirations for future generations The world can no longer settle for basic education alone Why do leaders accept that basic literacy is enough for children in developing countries when their own children are doing homework in algebra mathematics science and physics Leaders must seize this opportunity to ensure every child has access to free high-quality primary and secondary education Some will claim this is impractical too costly overly difficult or perhaps even unattainable But it's time the world started thinking bigger Dear sisters and brothers the so-called adult world might understand this but we children don't Why is it that the countries we deem strong are so adept at sparking wars yet so ineffective at fostering peace Why is it so easy to hand out guns yet so difficult to distribute books Why is it so easy to manufacture tanks yet so hard to construct schools We live in the modern era and we believe that anything is possible We landed on the Moon 45 years ago and we may soon set foot on Mars In this 21st century we must ensure every child receives a quality education Dear sisters and brothers dear fellow children we must act not wait Not just politicians and world leaders—everyone must contribute Me you all of us It is our duty Let us become the first generation to choose to be the last—those who see empty classrooms lost childhoods and wasted potential Let this be the last time a girl or boy spends their childhood working in a factory Let this be the last time a girl is forced into an early child marriage May this be the final time a child loses their life in war Let this be the last time we see a child out of school Let this end with us Let's begin this ending together today right here right now Let's begin this conclusion now Thank you so much