Malala, a global icon for girls’ education

We all believed that a girl with a book is a force to be reckoned with. Now, the world does too.

Malala Yousafzai made it to TIME Magazine’s shortlist for Person of the Year, ultimately coming in today as the runner-up. Though she started her journey behind the anonymity of a journal, the world now knows the name Malala and holds her as the inspiration for the movement for women’s empowerment, especially through girls’ education.

Malala’s story is one of resilience, hope, and the determination. The love and strength her of family, especially evident in her father’s advocacy on her behalf shows us that we all share responsibility to ensure all women have the right to education and equality.

As we continue to think about Malala, her recovery, and what her struggle and hope offers to for the plight of adolescent girls’ around the world, her own words ring with wisdom beyond her years. “She has become perhaps the world’s most admired children’s-rights advocate, all the more powerful for being a child herself,” said Aryn Baker of TIME.

“Her primary cause — securing Pakistani girls’ access to education — has served to highlight broader concerns: the health and safety of the developing world’s children, women’s rights and the fight against extremism.”