Excerpts from Malala Yousafzai’s 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech
“One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.” Powerful words from @Malala. #WorldTeachersDay pic.twitter.com/4c5K9CRzAM
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) October 5, 2019
Choice Excerpts from Malala’s 2014 Noble Peace Prize
“I am also honoured to receive this award together with Kailash Satyarthi, who has been a champion for children’s rights for a long time. Twice as long, in fact, than I have been alive. I am proud that we can work together, we can work together and show the world that an Indian and a Pakistani, they can work together and achieve their goals of children’s rights.
This award is not just for me. It is for those forgotten children who want education. It is for those frightened children who want peace. It is for those voiceless children who want change.
I am here to stand up for their rights, to raise their voice… it is not time to pity them. It is not time to pity them. It is time to take action so it becomes the last time, the last time, so it becomes the last time that we see a child deprived of education.
Do you not know that Mohammad, peace be upon him, the prophet of mercy, he says, do not harm yourself or others.”
I tell my story, not because it is unique, but because it is not.
It is the story of many girls.
Today, I tell their stories too.
I am those 66 million girls* who are deprived of education. And today I am not raising my voice, it is the voice of those 66 million girls.
My great hope is that this will be the last time, this will be the last time we must fight for education. Let’s solve this once and for all.
We are living in the modern age and we believe that nothing is impossible. ……. Then, in this 21st century, we must be able to give every child quality education.
Dear sisters and brothers, dear fellow children, we must work… not wait. Not just the politicians and the world leaders, we all need to contribute. Me. You. We. It is our duty.
Let us become the first generation to decide to be the last, let us become the first generation that decides to be the last that sees empty classrooms, lost childhoods, and wasted potentials.
Let this be the last time that a girl or a boy spends their childhood in a factory.
Let this be the last time that a girl is co-erced into early child marriage.
Let this be the last time that a child loses life in war.
Let this be the last time that we see a child out of school.
Let this end with us.
Let’s begin this ending together, today, right here, right now. Let’s begin this ending now. Thank you so much.”
*Note: UNESCO now estimates more than 130 million girls around the world are out of school.
