Malala Yousafzai becomes youngest honorary citizen of Canada

Malala Yousafzai has added yet another accolade to her growing list: honorary citizen of Canada.

At 19, she became the youngest person to receive that honor after Canada awarded her the title during an honorary citizenship ceremony in Ottawa on Wednesday.

“I’m humbled to accept honorary citizenship of your country,” she said during a speech to the House of Commons, where she got a standing ovation from parliamentarians.

“While I will always be a proud Pashtun and a proud citizen of Pakistan, I’m grateful to be an honorary member of your nation of heroes.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau handed her a certificate documenting her citizenship, along with a flag.

“Thank you, Malala, for your inspiring words. It was an honor to host you in our House – which I hope you’ll now consider your House, too,” Trudeau tweeted after the event.

Malala Yousafzai poses on stage in Birmingham, England, after she was announced as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 10, 2014. Two years earlier, she was shot in the head by the Taliban for her efforts to promote education for girls in Pakistan. Since then, after recovering from surgery, she has taken her campaign to the world stage.

Malala and her family visit the United Nations headquarters in New York before meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in August.

Malala speaks during the Commonwealth Day observance service at Westminster Abbey in London. Malala has lived in Britain since the Taliban attack.

Malala speaks at a youth empowerment event at London's Wembley Arena in March.

Malala gives a copy of her book to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a reception at Buckingham Palace in October 2013.

Malala addresses students and faculty of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after receiving the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award in September 2013.

Queen Rania of Jordan presents Malala with the Leadership in Civil Society Award at the Clinton Global Citizen Awards ceremony in New York in September 2013.

Musician Bono, right, and Salil Shetty, the secretary general of Amnesty International, honor Malala with the Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award at the Manison House in Dublin, Ireland, in September 2013. The award is Amnesty International's highest honor, recognizing individuals who have promoted and enhanced the cause of human rights.

Malala receives a trophy from Yemeni civil rights activist Tawakkol Karman after being honored with the International Children's Peace Prize in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2013. Karman was one of the Nobel Peace Prize winners in 2011.

Malala receives the 25th International Prize of Catalonia in July 2013 in Barcelona, Spain. The award recognizes those who have contributed to the development of cultural, scientific and human values around the world.

Malala is applauded before she speaks at the United Nations Youth Assembly in New York on July 12, 2013, her 16th birthday. "They thought that the bullets would silence us, but they failed," she said. "And then, out of that silence, came thousands of voices."

Malala was one of seven people featured on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people edition in April 2013.

Malala returns to school at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, on March 19, 2013. She said she had "achieved her dream."

Malala recovers after receiving treatment at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on October 19, 2012. Doctors covered the large hole in her skull with a titanium plate. The teen suffered no major brain or nerve damage, and she even kept the piece of her skull that was removed as a souvenir of her fight.

Pakistani hospital workers carry Malala on a stretcher on October 9, 2012, after she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban in Mingora, Pakistan.

Malala Yousafzai

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Worldwide fame

The Pakistani activist became known around the world after she was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban on her way home from school five years ago.

She narrowly escaped death and, has since campaigned for the rights of girls around the world.

Days before the honorary citizenship, she was named the youngest ever UN Messenger of Peace on Monday – the highest honor bestowed by the world body.

“I stood here on this stage almost three and a half years ago … and I told the world that education is the basic human right of every girl,” she said in her acceptance speech for the UN accolade. “And I stand here again today and say the same thing.

“Once you educate girls, you change the whole community, you change the whole society.”

She also called on other girls from her home country to make their voices heard.

“You need to stand up … you need to believe in yourselves,” she told them. “You are the real change-makers. If you do not stand up, change will not come … It starts with us and it should start now.”

Related article Malala: Inspiring girls globally, while an everyday girl at heart

UN chief Antonio Guterres described Yousafzai as a hero.

“It is an enormous pleasure to have you as our Messenger of Peace,” he said, praising her fight for the rights of all people, including women and girls, and their education and equality.

UN Messengers of Peace are chosen from the fields of literature, art, science, entertainment, sports and other areas of public life. Their role is to help put global attention on the work and ideals of the United Nations.

Other Messengers of Peace include Leonardo DiCaprio, chosen for his work on climate change and other environmental issues, and Stevie Wonder, a committed campaigner for the rights of people with disabilities.