“I raise up my voice — not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.”
— Malala Yousafzai, 16th birthday speech at the United Nations (2013)
Malala Yousafzai delivered these words on her 16th birthday at the United Nations, less than a year after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban for advocating girls’ education in Pakistan. She had every reason to speak about her own suffering, yet she chose to redirect attention to the millions of children denied education worldwide.
The daughter of an educator in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, Malala began blogging about life under Taliban rule at age eleven. Her advocacy made her a target, but the attack that nearly killed her only strengthened her resolve. By the time she addressed the UN in July 2013, she had become a global symbol of courage, though she consistently rejected the spotlight for herself alone.
This quote captures the essence of her mission: amplification rather than self-promotion. She distinguishes between shouting for attention and raising one’s voice to create space for others. The distinction matters. True advocacy, she suggests, means using whatever platform you have to elevate those who lack one.
At seventeen, she became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Her words from that UN speech remain a reminder that the most powerful voices are often those that choose to echo others.
