Malala 6th person to receive honorary Canadian citizenship

Youngest Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai on 12 April 2017 became the sixth person to receive honorary Canadian citizenship.

Malala, 19, was bestowed with the title during an honorary citizenship ceremony held in Ottawa. The Pakistani activist was welcomed to the seat of Canada's democracy by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. With this, she also became the youngest person to receive the honorary Canadian citizenship.

The privilege was previously granted to five others namely Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, religious leader Karim Aga Khan IV and Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (posthumously).

Malala Yousafzai designated youngest-ever UN Messenger of Peace

In addition to this, Malala is the youngest person to speak to Canadian members of parliament and senators in a joint session.

About Malala Yousafzai

• Born on 12 July 1997, Malala, a co-recipient of 2014 Nobel peace Prize, is mainly known for human rights advocacy for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. She received the award along with Kailash Satyarthi.

• Earlier on 9 October 2012, she was injured after a Taliban gunman shot her in the head on a school bus. She was shot for defending her right to attend school. The event sparked national and international support for her.

• She was honoured with Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize in 2012.

• She had featured in the Time magazine as one of the most influential people globally in its issues on 2013, 2014 and 2015.

• On 10 April 2017, she was named as a UN Messenger of Peace, the highest honour awarded by the United Nation. She was honoured with the title for her work on girls’ right to education worldwide.

Earlier, Malala was invited to receive the Canadian citizenship in 2014 by the previous Conservative government, the year when she was awarded the Noble peace prize. But the ceremony was postponed due to attack on the Parliament and shooting of a ceremonial guard.