Staff writer, with CNA
Pakistani campaigner for female education and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousufzai is to visit Taiwan, possibly in August, according to a government-funded foundation that has invited her.
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy president Huang Teh-fu (黃德福) yesterday said that Yousufzai has accepted the foundation’s invitation.
The foundation is planning to award her a prize in recognition of her contributions to society, Huang said during a legislative committee hearing, in response to questions from lawmakers on which international visitors the foundation plans to invite to Taiwan.
Yousafzai shared last year’s Nobel Peace Prize with children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi of India, who founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or the Save the Childhood Movement.
At 17, Yousufzai is the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
Born in Pakistan, Yousufzai became an outspoken advocate for girls’ education and a thorn in the side of the Taliban, leading to her being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 on her way home from school.
She was gravely injured, but survived after being taken to a UK for specialist treatment.
That did not stop her campaign. Since her recovery, she has continued to speak out on the importance of education, which earned her the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
Huang said that his foundation would continue its efforts to invite Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The foundation extended an invitation to the democracy activist last year, but she declined it, citing the tense political situation in her nation, Huang said.
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