Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager shot in the face by a Taliban gunman, has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At 17, she is the youngest person to be decorated with the award.

Yousafzai campaigned for women's education rights in Pakistan, which led to the Taliban issuing death threats against her and on October 9, 2012, she was shot by a gunman on a school bus. She survived the attack and despite a near-death experience at the hands of a violent assailant, has continued to battle for women's rights.

She began her campaign against the Taliban in 2008, with a speech titled "How dare the Taliban take away my right to education?" She spoke out against the terrorist organisation for the next four years, until the fateful day that a gunman boarded a bus and shot her. She was airlifted to England to receive treatment, where she remains today in the English education system.

The Nobel committee said in a statement: "Despite her youth, Malala Yousafzai has already fought for several years for the right of girls to education, and has shown by example that children and young people, too, can contribute to improving their own situations. This she has done under the most dangerous circumstances. Through her heroic struggle she has become a leading spokesperson for girls’ rights to education.”

Yousafzai will receive a prize of £690,000, along with the Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi. 

Watch Yousafzai address the United Nations on her 16th birthday below: