Malala Yousafzai didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't need to

By Louisa Peacock

Malala Yousafzai doesn't need a prize to confirm her status as a heroine, says Louisa Peacock, who asks what's next for the 16 year-old schoolgirl living in Birmingham.

At 16, Malala Yousafzai has done what many human rights campaigners can only dream of. She's cut through the jargon, the muddled rhetoric and unfortunate bureaucracy that can, sadly, so often be associated with a 'good cause', and managed to get people everywhere talking about one of the biggest issues facing young girls worldwide: their right to education. Malala may not have won a Nobel Peace Prize this morning, but does it really matter? The OPCW, the body overseeing destruction of Syria's chemical weapons gained the coveted prize in Oslo on Friday, disappointing many who believed Malala was a firm favourite to win. But Malala doesn't need a prize to confirm her as a heroine. Malala is already an inspiration for millions of children who would relish the chance to go to school. It is fitting that today, the same day as the Twittersphere and the world celebrates Malala's achievements despite her not winning the Peace Prize, is the United Nations' Day of the Girl. The second such day in its history, Day of the Girl is aimed at raising awareness of the very issues Malala has so bravely promoted. As Plan International, a charity aiming to get four million more girls in education around the world continues its work, Malala couldn't be more of a perfect poster child for it. Now a Birmingham schoolgirl herself, like any other pupil, she will have worries about homework, about settling into the new term (can you imagine being one of her classmates?). But Malala has brought to life some of the cold, hard facts about the plight of developing countries' girls that the Western world has become hardened to, even ignores. These include the denial of basic rights to girls, and the "invisibility" of girls in the global development agenda. Violence in schools, early marriage, pregnancy and housework continue to constitute significant barriers to girls’ education around the world. Every year, 10 million girls are forced or coerced to marry. One in three girls in the developing world is married by the age of 18. Over 150 million girls are raped by the age of 18. All over the world poverty and discrimination continue to have a detrimental effect on girls’ attendance in school. Globally, one in five girls of lower secondary school age is out of school. But this is not just a 'women's issue'. An increase of only 1 per cent in girls secondary education would add 0.3 per cent to a country's GDP.