NEW YORK: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai as a UN Messenger of Peace on Monday to promote girls education.
While designating Malala as UN Messenger of Peace to promote girls education, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, “You are not only a hero, but you are a very committed and generous person.” Yousafzai has become a regular speaker on the global stage and visited refugee camps in Rwanda and Kenya last July to highlight the plight of refugee girls from Burundi and Somalia.
Malala Yousafzai said on the occasion, “The extremists tried all their best to stop me, they tried to kill me and they didn’t succeed.” She added, “Now this is a new life, this is a second life and it is for the purpose of education.”
Malala Yousafzai, 19, is the youngest Messenger of Peace, the highest honour given by the United Nations for an initial period of two years. It is pertinent to mention here that she was also the youngest personality to win the Nobel peace prize in 2014 when she was only 17 years old.
Girls’ education champion. Nobel Prize winner. Global inspiration. And now youngest UN Messenger of Peace. Congratulations Malala Yousafzai! pic.twitter.com/WFeej6B0eX
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) April 10, 2017