Malala heading to South Africa for Nelson Mandela Lecture

The Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Series has announced that its next annual lecture speaker – in December – will be world famous, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai.

Malala Yousafzai, who was born on 12 July 1997 in Mingora, the largest city in the Swat Valley, Pakistan – became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize at 17.

Malala’s activism started when she was just a teenager, after the Taliban began to control the Swat Valley and banned girls from attending school and cultural activities.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said in a press release today: “Determined to go to school and with a firm belief in her right to an education, Malala stood up to the Taliban. Her activism resulted in a nomination for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011. That same year, she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize.”

Because of her activism, the Taliban shot and seriously wounded her in October 2012 when she was just 15. The following year, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Malala the prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

In October 2014, Malala, along with Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, was named a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

“Today, through the Malala Fund and with her own voice, Malala remains a staunch advocate for the power of education and for girls to become agents of change in their communities,” says the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

The Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Series invites prominent people to drive debate on significant current social issues. Previous speakers have included the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres; former US president Barack Obama; and former Irish president and philanthropist Mary Robinson, amongst others.

The theme this year is ‘Leading for a Just Future’.

ANNUAL LECTURE DETAILS
Date: Tuesday 5 December 2023
Time: 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Venue: Johannesburg