Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai was honoured Thursday 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.
The award was presented to Malala at a public ceremony at Harvard Kennedy School.
In 2014, Malala became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her efforts for children’s rights. On October 2012, Malala was shot in the head at point-blank range by Taliban gunmen as she was returning from her school in Swat valley.
Now 21, Malala 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.
