Malala Yousafzai's Speech at the United Nations Youth Assembly (2013)

In the name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

Honorable UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Respected President General Assembly Vuk Jeremić, Honorable UN Envoy for Global Education Mr. Gordon Brown, Respected elders, and my dear brothers and sisters; As-Salaam-Alaikum .

Today, it is an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time.

Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life and it's an honorA great privilege or pleasure to do something. for me that today I'm wearing a shawl of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.

I don't know where to begin my speech.

I don't know what people would be expecting me to say.

But first of all, thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and a new life.

I cannot believe how much love people have shown me.

I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world.

Thank you to all of them.

Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me.

Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me.

I would like to thank my nurses, doctors, and the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK, and the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover

my strength.

I fully support Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of the UN Special Envoy Mr. Gordon Brown and the Respected President General Assembly Vuk

Jeremić.

I thank all of them for their leadership that they continue to give.

They continue to inspireTo fill someone with the urge or ability to do or feel something all of us to action.

Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing.

Malala day is not my day.

Today is the day of every woman, every boy, and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights.

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights but who are struggling to achieve their goal of peace, education, and equality.

Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured.

I'm just one of them.

So here I stand, one girl among many.

I speak, not for myself, but for those without voice can be heard, those who have fought for their rights: Their right to live in peace.

Their right to be treated with dignity.

Their right to equality of opportunity.

Their right to be educated.