Malala Yousafzai

Born: 12 July 1997, Mingora, Pakistan

Residence at the time of the award: United Kingdom

Prize motivation: "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education"

Malala was shot by militants in October 2012 in the Swat Valley of Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Taliban militants claimed responsibility for the attack and said in a statement that Malala had been attacked for promoting "secularism" in the country. After receiving initial medical treatment in Pakistan, Malala was flown to the United Kingdom where she is presently residing with her family.

Before being shot, the teenager had been campaigning for girls' right to education in Swat and was a vocal critic of Islamic extremists. She was praised internationally for writing about the Taliban atrocities in a BBC Urdu service blog.

Malala has come a long way since then. She has now become an international icon of resistance, women's empowerment and right to education, and has received numerous awards, including the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize and the European Union's prestigious Sakharov Prize. Furthermore, the teenager co-founded the Malala Fund - a New York-based nonprofit that aims to improve girls' access to education - in 2013. Pakistan Malala Demonstration.

Malala has now become an international icon of resistance, women's empowerment and right to education

Symbol of resistance.

There are many people in Pakistan for whom Malala's name has become synonymous with the fight against extremism and the Taliban.
"Malala is no more simply the name of an individual; her name symbolizes the movement for girls' education in Pakistan," Mahnaz Rahman, a veteran rights activist and resident director of the women's rights organization Aurat Foundation, told DW.

Rahman said that international recognition for Malala was important because it would strengthen the progressive forces in Pakistan. She said that Malala deserved the Nobel Peace Prize more than many other people who had won it in the past.

Ghazala Naqvi, a Karachi-based writer, said that although national and international lobbies played a big role in nominations for international awards, Malala's nomination projected the soft and liberal image of Pakistan to the rest of the world.
A polarizing figure

Despite the fact that liberals hail Malala as a symbol of pride for the country, the teenager has become an extremely divisive figure in Pakistan.