Nobel prize winner Malala to become honorary Canadian citizen

Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai holds a bouquet of flowers after addressing the media in Birmingham, central England on Oct 10, 2014. Malala will travel to Canada to become an honorary citizen, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Frida
Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai holds a bouquet of flowers after addressing the media in Birmingham, central England on Oct 10, 2014. Malala will travel to Canada to become an honorary citizen, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday, the same day the 17-year-old education rights campaigner was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. -- PHOTO: AFP

OTTAWA (AFP) - Malala Yousafzai will travel to Canada to become an honorary citizen, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday, the same day the 17-year-old education rights campaigner was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

Malala was named an honorary Canadian a year ago and will visit the country on Oct 22 to receive citizenship, Harper said.

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Malala, who survived being shot in the head by the Taleban, and to India's Kailash Satyarthi, for championing children's rights.

"On behalf of all Canadians, I want to congratulate Malala... and Mr Satyarthi for their wonderful work for humanity, for their tireless efforts in favour of children's rights, and for bringing the causes they cherish to the attention of the whole world," Harper said in a statement.

"I am also pleased to announce that Malala will be visiting us here in Canada on Oct 22, 2014. We look forward to pursuing our collaborative efforts on children's education."

Malala is only the sixth person to become an honorary Canadian; others include the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Malala, who had fought for years for the right of girls to education in her strictly Muslim home region in Pakistan, leapt to global fame after the Taleban tried to gun her down in October 2012.

She has lived in the English city of Birmingham since a successful operation following the attack.

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