WASHINGTON: Malala Yousufzai, a rights activist and youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, has now received the US Liberty Medal and pledged her $100,000 award to promote education in Pakistan.

The 17-year-old student from Swat received international recognition when she stood up to the Taliban who wanted to prevent her and other girls from going to school.

On Tuesday, the US National Constitution Centre held a reception for Malala in Philadelphia and awarded the prize for her “courage and resilience in the face of adversity”.

In her acceptance speech, Malala outlined her desire to see all 57 million out-of-school children in the world going to schools.

Malala won the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct 12 together with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children’s rights activist.

Jeffrey Rosen, president of the US National Constitution Centre, said that Malala was a powerful voice for those who have been denied their basic human rights and liberties.

“I speak for those without a voice, I speak for girls who have been persecuted,” Malala said about her struggle against the Taliban. “Why should I not speak? It is our duty to our country. I needed to speak for our right to go to school.”

She said the Taliban committed a big mistake by attacking her, because the attempt on her life made her stronger.

“We all need to protect children’s’ rights,” she added, saying that young women in Syria and Nigeria also had a right to education, despite the struggles in those countries.

“Why not spend this money [used for war] on education,” she said.

The Liberty Medal was established in 1988 to commemorate the bicentennial of the US Constitution.

Given annually, the medal honours men and women of courage and conviction who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe.

The Liberty Medal was first administered in 2006, when Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were honoured for their bipartisan humanitarian efforts on behalf of victims of tsunami in Southeast Asia and the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast.

Malala is the 26th recipient of the medal. Last year’s medal was awarded to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Meanwhile, the Canadian prime minister’s office announced on Wednesday that it had cancelled two scheduled events with Malala because of several shooting incidents in Ottawa.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was scheduled to moderate a Wednesday afternoon question-and-answer session with Malala at a Toronto high school.

Later in the evening, he was to confer honorary Canadian citizenship on the 17-year-old Pakistani activist.

“Both events have now been cancelled,” the prime minister’s office said, adding that Mr Harper had been rushed away from the Parliament building in Ottawa and moved to an undisclosed location.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014