Nobel laureate Malala predicts ‘change is coming’

World Today

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, reaches out to joint winner Kailash Satyarthi from India during the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, Norway. Photo: AP

Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai offered hope Wednesday that her prize will inspire young girls all over the world to fight for their rights and to step forward to lead.

The 17-year-old girl shot by the Taliban in Pakistan in October 2012 for asserting her right to an education said that the time is now for women to proclaim their rights and that “change is coming.”

“I feel that it’s not just me receiving the award,” Malala said. “It’s all these girls, this young generation, they have been working so hard, and it’s their voice that I would be raising in my speech today.”

Malala has felt the bond of a global sisterhood of sorts, with women gathering the strength to fight for education, the key to a future. To drive home the point that women must have greater inclusion in the next generation of leaders, she brought five girls to the festivities from Nigeria, Syria and Pakistan to share their hopes and dreams of a better life.

The newly minted laureate has herself often expressed her wish to lead, setting sights on one day becoming Pakistani prime minister and following in the steps of the late Benazir Bhutto.

Yousafzai shared the prize with Kailash Satyarthi of India. Both have campaigned for the rights of children and young people, particularly education.

This story is compiled with information from the Associated Press.