Hollywood star, Angelina
Jolie, has honoured Pakistani
schoolgirl activist, Malala
Yousafzai, who has launched a
charity to fund girls' education.
In New York, Jolie said Malala
would be "in charge" of the
Malala Fund. Malala, 15, said
in a video the launch was "the
happiest moment of my life".
The charity's first grant will fund
the education of 40 girls in
Pakistan.
"Let us turn the education of 40
girls into 40 million girls."
"God has given me this
new life. I want to serve the
people. I want every girl,
every child, to be educated."
Malala's crusade started years
before the shooting, when she
started writing a blog for the BBC
about life in Pakistan's conservative
Swat Valley. Her father, Ziauddin, continued to operate a school there
despite a Taliban edict that girls in the region are banned from getting
an education.
In her blog, Malala talked openly about the challenges and fears and
threats her family faced. At first, she wrote anonymously, but she
eventually became a public figure, giving on-camera interviews with
CNN and other news outlets.
Check out Malala's blog at news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7834402.stm
Everyone who laid eyes on Malala Yousafzai knew the Pakistani schoolgirl
was something special. When her mountain town of Mingora, in the Swat
Valley, fell under Taliban rule, her courage made her a powerful symbol.
And now, after a near-fatal attempt to silence the 15-year-old, she is more
dangerous to Pakistan's status quo than ever before. Source: www.vanityfair.com
On July 12, her 16th birthday, Malala will speak
to the United Nations about the issue.
Since her shooting, she has become the face
of girls' education, a global symbol. She has
been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and
last year she was selected as a runner-up for
Source: edition.cnn.com
w
Time magazine's Person of the Year.
Malala now attends school in Birmingham,
England following her recovery from the shooting
and has signed a book deal worth about $3m
(£2m) for her memoir.
The teenager started school again following
surgery to fit a titanium plate and cochlear implant
into her skull. w
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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