Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai on Thursday was honoured by Harvard University for her work promoting girls’ education.
The 21-year-old received the 2018 Gleitsman Award from the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School for her global movement to equip girls with 12 years of free, quality, and safe education.
Yousafzai became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 when she was recognised for her global work supporting schooling for all children.
As a teen in Pakistan, she survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban. She later founded the nonprofit Malala Fund to support her work.
Harvard officials say her story has inspired a generation of boys and girls to follow in her footsteps.
Now 21, Yousafzai is a student at Oxford University in England.
The Gleitsman Award provides $125,000 for activism that has improved quality of life around the world.
Earlier, David Gergen, professor of public service at Harvard Kennedy School and director of the Center for Public Leadership said, “Malala speaks powerfully to the strength and perseverance of women and girls who are oppressed.”
He added, “Her remarkable story has inspired girls — and boys as well — to follow in her footsteps and has activated a generation of practitioners and legislators who are fighting for equality in their own communities.”
Gergen continued, “Alan Gleitsman, whose philanthropy made this award possible, believed in individuals whose vision inspired others to confront injustice.”
“He was an ardent supporter of Harvard Kennedy School’s efforts to cultivate the world’s youngest change makers and would be so pleased by today’s announcement,” the professor added.
