Malala's mission.

• Author: Potenza, Alessandra
• Position: INTERNATIONAL - Malala Yousafzai - Interview

The outspoken Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban in 2012 won the Nobel Peace Prize last month. She talks with Upfront about her campaign for girls' education.

Life changed forever for 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai on Oct. 9, 2012. On her way home from school that day in Pakistan, two members of the Taliban flagged down her school bus, and one of the men shot her in the head.

Why? Because Malala had been speaking out for girls' rights since 2008, after the Taliban took over Swat Valley, where she lived. The Islamic militants came from neighboring Afghanistan, where they'd been battling U.S. troops since 2001. In Swat, they imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, banning TV, music, and girls' education. But Malala refused to give in, and she continued attending school and speaking out.

Malala, now 17, survived the attack, and she and her family fled to England. While Malala is a regular teen in many ways--she loves her iPad and struggles with biology--she continues to speak out for the right of girls everywhere to go to school. Last month, she became the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Upfront spoke with Malala during her recent visit to New York City, where she was promoting her new book for teens, I Am Malala (see "More From Malala").

Upfront Pakistan faces many challenges. Why do you think girls' education is an important issue to focus on?

Malala In Pakistan, I've seen so many situations in which girls are denied their basic human rights. For example, in 2007 terrorism started in Swat Valley, and women were not allowed to go to markets or to school. More than 400 girls' schools were destroyed. I realized girls' education is something important, and that's why the terrorists are afraid of it--because they do not want women to [be] empowered. That's why I started speaking for it.

Upfront What do you miss the most about Pakistan?

Malala When you go to your hometown, there's this special feeling which [you] don't find in any other place. I miss that feeling. But when I was in Swat Valley, I would see children every day who were not going to school. They were going to other people's houses to clean their dishes, clean their houses. So I really want to go back to Pakistan to help those children and to make sure all children in Pakistan are getting [a] quality education, especially girls.

Upfront What's your life like in England?

Malala England is a very nice country, [but] it's quite difficult for me to get used...