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Malala Yousafzai addressed the United Nations

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 04: Activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai looks on during a press conference following the first focus event on education at the 'Supporting Syria Conference' at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on February 4, 2016 in London, England. World leaders including British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will gather for the 4th annual donor conference in an attempt to raise 6.2bn GBP to those affected by the war in Syria. (Photo by Dan Kitwood - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Nobel Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai was only 15 years old when she narrowly survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban. A vocal advocate of equal rights and education for young women, Yousafzai courageously openly attacked Taliban policies on social media and in public, which earned her the ire of the violent extremist group. She was born and grew up in Pakistan’s Swat district, where the Taliban have a large presence.

The group passed its own edict, ‘declaring’ that no girls could attend school – following which they bombed and destroyed a fair number.

The outspoken Yousafzai, whose father Ziauddin is also an educator, spoke openly and freely against the Taliban’s barbarianism, and the group eventually targeted the teenager, attacking her as she took a bus on the way home from school in 2012 – allegedly after having decided together to kill her.

According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers ambushed the bus, threatening to kill everyone if Malala did not reveal herself.

Thankfully, Yousafzai survived the attack – and the following year, in 2013, Malala addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the first time.

She would go on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.