Malala Yousafzai awarded Hay Festival Medal for Education

The women’s rights campaigner and youngest-ever Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has been awarded the Medal for Education at Hay Festival in Wales.

Malala is the first recipient of a Hay Festival Medal for 2026. The award comes in recognition of her remarkable career to champion young girls’ education.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani women’s education activist, best-selling author and award-winning film producer. She rose to international prominence after surviving a Taliban attack in 2012. Since, she has become one of the world’s most influential voices on education. Through the Malala Fund, she continues to campaign for 12 years of free, safe, quality education for every girl.

The award comes amid renewed international attention on the rights of Afghan girls, many of whom remain barred from secondary education under Taliban rule.

Hay Festival CEO, Julie Finch, say:

“It is an enormous privilege to award Malala Yousafzai our Medal for Education on the opening weekend of Hay Festival during our Programme for Schools’ days. Through her fearless commitment of girls’ education, Malala reminds us of our shared responsibility to ensure all young people have access to education to fulfil their potential in life.”