ISLAMABAD: She’s survived a Taliban attack, won a Nobel Peace Prize, has written a bestselling memoir, and is now one of the most recognizable youth activists in the world.
It’s no surprise then that, on Monday, Conde Nast’s Teen Vogue said it had chosen Pakistan’s Malala Yousafzai to grace the cover of its final issue.
Feisty and confident, Malala stands tall in a navy blue and gold ensemble on the magazine’s cover, its last one after nearly a decade of being in business.
Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai on the cover of US teen vogue. (Courtesy: US Teen Vogue)
Teen Vogue says it zeroed in on the 22-year-old youth icon for kicking off a trend that “defined the last decade” and led to a “rise of youth activists.”
“Six years ago, I was receiving global support, and I was happy that this time they were listening to young people,” Yousafzai told Teen Vogue about the rise of young voices, adding that sometimes in rooms with decision-makers, “they don’t have any young people at the table; they don’t even have women, let alone young people.”
“So, just to have the voices of young people present there, just to have women being present at those tables, I think it’s a huge difference.”
Malala’s story, now firmly entrenched in Pakistan’s history, resonated with millions across the world when it first broke in 2012.
Here was a young student from Swat Valley who was defiantly blogging about the rise of radical Islamists and their mission to stop girls from going to school.
After surviving a shot to her head in October the same year, Malala used her experience to raise awareness and funds for children across the world to have access to affordable and substantial education.
Her efforts earned her the Nobel in 2014, making her the youngest individual to be recognized with the award at the age of 17.
In Teen Vogue, she continues to champion that cause by talking about education, Islamaphobia and the rise of youth activists such as Greta Thunberg – a 16-year-old Swedish activist focussing on climate change – and the teenagers who survived the mass shooting at Parkland High School in the USA, tirelessly campaigning for gun reform.
