The youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner in history delivered the keynote address at the World Food Prize Dialogue in Des Moines. Malala Yousafzai was 15 years old when she was shot on a school bus by a Taliban gunman for opposing education restrictions for women in her native Pakistan. Yousafzai says in countries where food is scarce, families have to choose between food and sending their children to school.
Yousafzai and her family fled to Great Britain after she was shot and she continued speaking out against efforts to limit education access for young girls and women. She was just 17 when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Yousafzai has founded a non-profit that’s lobbying to prevent child marriages by raising the minimum age for marriage. She is also an advocate for policies that guarantee every girl has access to 12 years of free, safe, quality education.
World Food Prize events wrap up today with a ceremony honoring the 2026 World Food Prize Laureate, a Dutch scientist who led a global initiative to prevent food-borne illnesses by creating food safety standards to prevent food-borne illnesses and improve trade.
