Malala awarded Liberty Medal, says she'll give cash prize to education and humanitarian relief efforts in Pakistan
By Daniel Kelley
PHILADELPHIA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Malala Yousafzai, the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, renewed her call for world peace and universal education on Tuesday at a ceremony in which she was awarded the Liberty Medal.
"No girl, no child, anywhere, anywhere in this world should be deprived of education," said Yousafzai, who is 17.
The Liberty Medal honors people who "strive to secure the blessings of liberty," according to the website of the National Constitution Center, which presents the award each year in Philadelphia.
The medal comes with a $100,000 cash prize, which Yousafzai said she would donate to education and humanitarian relief efforts in her native Pakistan.
The award comes two weeks after Yousafzai became the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She rose to prominence as an 11-year-old girl who advocated for girls' rights to education as a blogger on the BBC's Urdu service. Shot in the head in October 2012 by Taliban gunmen intent on silencing her, she settled in Britain amid ongoing threats by extremists in Pakistan.
She now runs the Malala Fund, which is dedicated to empowering girls through education.
The teen spent Tuesday night being honored by dignitaries who saw her through the lens of their professions and passions. University of Pennsylvania president Amy Gutman said Yousafzai underscored the importance of education.
Legal scholar Jeffrey Rosen said she mirrored the values found in the U.S. Constitution, and ABC News Correspondent Martha Raddatz said she was a living example of the power of words and the power of a free press.
(Editing by Barbara Goldberg, Bernard Orr)
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