New York: Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yusufzai stole the show at a star-studded awards night here as she was honoured in the presence of flamboyant pop icon Lady Gaga and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The Glamour Women of the Year Awards 2013 were presented to Gaga, Malala and nine other women who have through their works and life been an inspiration to people across the globe. Malala, 16, was honoured for her "unstoppable drive to change the world" with 'The Girls' Hero' award which included a gift to help The Malala Fund.
Malala Fund helps girls around the world to get the education they deserve. The money raised would go to projects she is most passionate about. The Fund recently made its first grant, supporting the education of 40 girls in the Swat Valley, an achievement that thrilled Malala who wants to expand to other regions and countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
"We love you, Malala!" people shouted from a balcony in Carnegie Hall, where the annual event was held. The young Pakistani activist, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in October last year for campaigning for girls' education in Swat Valley in Pakistan, drew the loudest cheers as she went on stage to receive her award.
Accepting her award, she said the pen is much mightier than the gun. "I believe the gun has no power because a gun can only kill," she said. "But a pen can give life," said Malala who has become a global icon for right to education.
"Nothing can happen when half the population is in the Stone Age," Malala said. "I believe that when women are educated, then you will see this world change. One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen can change the world," she said.
Pop icon Lady Gaga showered praises on the young Pakistani girl, saying the young activist deserves more than anyone else to be on the cover of Glamour magazine. "If I could forfeit my Glamour cover I would give it to Malala," she said.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to renowned singer-songwriter Barbra Streisand who said it was her voice that allowed her to speak out and "have my opinions heard". As she accepted her award, Streisand, 71, said it is time the US has a woman as the country's President, referring to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who was present at the award show.
"There's never been a woman president," Streisand said, "but I hope that will change very soon...hint, hint! And we really need her now."
Clinton appeared on stage to present the "Couple of the Year" award to former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who have has founded a gun safety organisation, Americans for Responsible Solutions after Giffords was shot in 2011 while she was meeting constituents in a supermarket parking lot.
Giffords has since been recovering but suffers from speech impairment. "It's been a hard, long time but I am getting better," she said told the crowd, "I am doing speech therapy, physical therapy, and yoga too. I am still fighting to make the world a better place, and you can, too," she said.
In another emotional moment during the star-studded awards night, first-grade teacher at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis spoke
about the tragic day in 2012 when a gunman shot and injured several kindergarten students.
Roig-DeBellis saved her pupils by making them hide in a small bathroom. "I have lived my life so as not to let that day define myself or my students," said Roig-DeBellis.
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