After Nobel prize, US Liberty Medal bestowed on child activist Malala Yousafzai

Islamabad, Oct 22: Malala Yousufzai, the youngest ever Nobel laureate, has been awarded the US Liberty Medal, said media reports.

The award is given annually to men and women of courage and conviction. It was established in 1988 and it commemorates the bicentennial of the US Constitution. Among past winners are human-rights activists and heads of state.

Malala was chosen by a committee of the National Constitution Center board, said a report on Philly.com. She won the Nobel peace prize this year and the 17-year-old child rights activist pledged her $100,000 award to education in Pakistan, according to a Geo TV report. Malala is the seventh Liberty Medal honoree to also win or share a Nobel prize.

She won the prize for her "courage and resilience in the face of adversity and for serving as a powerful voice for those who have been denied their basic human rights and liberties", said the National Constitution Centre (NCC), US.

Malala, who currently lives in Britain, rose to prominence in Pakistan by campaigning for girls' right to education.

In October 2012, she rose to fame after she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman. From 2010, she had been writing a blog in BBC under a pseudonym, about the education crisis and denial of basic human rights in Swat valley, her native place in Pakistan. This had irked the Taliban.

However, Malal refused to yield to the threats. After she recovered from the gunshot, she became actively involved in campaigning for girls' education in Pakistan.

At the award event, Malala said,called for spending money on books, not guns. She also spoke for children in conflict zones like India, Syria, Nigeria, and Gaza. "I ask all countries all around the world: Let us say no to wars. Let us say no to conflicts", she said, as reported by Philly.com

Oneindia News