Malala Yousafzai to receive Tipperary peace award today

The 16-year-old Pakistani school pupil who was shot by the Taliban last year for campaigning for girls' education will receive the Tipperary International Peace Award today. Malala Yousafzai will attend the ceremony in Ballykisteen Hotel in Co Tipperary this evening.

Ms Yousafzai, who is also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, will join a list of former Tipperary International Peace Award winners such as Nelson Mandela, Benazir Bhutto and Bill Clinton.

Since she was 11, Ms Yousafzai had been writing secretly for the BBC, documenting the difficulties of being a girl seeking education under Taliban rule.

After her identity was revealed, a Taliban militia boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. Despite threats from the Taliban during her recovery, Mr Yousafzai continues campaigning.

She has already been named as one of the world’s top 100 most influential people and has been called the world’s most influential teenager.

Tipperary Peace Convention spokesman Martin Quinn said they were delighted Ms Yousafzai chose to collect the award in person.

“We are really looking forward to receiving her and presenting her with this well deserved accolade.”