Canada grants Malala Yousafzai honorary citizenship

OTTAWA, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Pakistani education advocate Malala Yousafzai will become the second woman and first teen to be an honorary Canadian, the government said Wednesday.

The decision to grant the 16-year-old honorary Canadian citizenship was announced in the Speech from the Throne, delivered by Governor General David Johnston in the Senate chamber, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The annual speech, while delivered by Queen Elizabeth II, the head of state, or her representative, outlines the policy of the current government.

Yousafzai is the sixth person to be given the honor. The others are Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who died in a prisoner in the Soviet Union after saving thousands of Jews in World War II, former South African President Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Myanmar human-rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Aga Khan, founder of an international development network.

Yousafzai, from the Swat Valley in Pakistan, became an advocate for educating girls at an early age. In 2012; she survived an assassination attempt, although she spent months in treatment in Britain.