Malala Donates $50,000 World Children's Prize to Rebuild Gaza Schools

Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousafzai said she will donate the $50,000 award for winning the World's Children's Prize to rebuild schools in Gaza.

“The needs are overwhelming — more than half of Gaza’s population is under 18 years of age. They want and deserve quality education, hope, and real opportunities to build a future,” Yousafzai said in a statement released by The United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

Yousafzai, 17, survived being shot by the Taliban at age 15 and has become a global advocate for girls’ right to education and the first person to win the Children’s Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize in the same year.

“We must all work to ensure Palestinian boys and girls, and all children everywhere, receive a quality education in a safe environment,” Yousafzai said in the statement. “Because without education, there will never be peace. Let us stand together for peace and education because together we are more powerful.”

Yousafzai’s donation is going to the aid of an area where fighting in July and August left more than 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis dead.

Twitter users lauded the $50,000 donation.

Malala, you are consistently awesome! Nobel Prize Winner #MalalaYousafzai Donates $50,000 for #Gaza Schools http://t.co/G7l865aive

— Mitchell Plitnick (@MJPlitnick) October 29, 2014

This gave me chills - Nobel Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai Donates $50,000 for #Gaza Schools http://t.co/pbuhLxMTl8

— Zaina Khachadourian (@msZainaK) October 29, 2014

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