Malala Yousafzai, the teenaged Pakistani schoolgirl shot by a Taliban gunman last year, is to be given Ireland’s prestigious Tipperary International Peace Prize for 2012 for her courage and determination to speak out in support of equal access to education for every child, it was announced on Thursday.
She was one of the five nominees, including the Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and the outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Malala is the second Pakistani to get the award. In 2007, it was given to late Benazir Bhutto. Meanwhile, Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, has been appointed education attache’ at Pakistani consulate in Birmingham paving the way for her to continue to stay on in Britain after her medical treatment.
Malala (15), who suffered serious skull injuries after being shot by a militant last October, is being treated at Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Contract
Officials at the Pakistani mission were reported as saying that Mr. Yousafzai had been given a three-year contract which could be extended.
