NathanMalala Yousafzai
By the tender age of 17, Yousafzai went on to be the youngest Nobel Prize laureate all because of her humanitarian efforts. After she was gunned by the Taliban in Pakistan on her way to school for her advocacy for women pursuing education, she started to gain recognition. Now a student at Oxford’s Lady Margaret Hall she started her own organization, The Malala Fund.
Sophie Cruz
Cruz became well known after she went to Washington D.C. with her family at 5 years old. She represents an L.A.-based immigration advocacy group who had to deliver a letter to Pope Francis requesting him to speak for the undocumented workers and support the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans Act. The Pope met with the Congress the following day. Cruz partook in theWomen’s March in D.C. where she gave a speech in Spanish and English saying, “We are here together making a chain of love to protect our families. Let us fight with love, faith and courage so that our families will not be destroyed.”
Samantha Smith
Smith was only 10 and somehow dialed down the Cold War tensions between the United States and Russia using a single letter. Writing to the CPSU General Secretary Yuri Andropov, she suggested that both countries could co-exist peacefully and this was printed on a Soviet newspaper. She then took on the role as “America’s Youngest Ambassador” and she also contributed in the peacemaking with Japan. She, unfortunately, passed away at just 13 years of age in a plane crash.
Iqbal Masih
Masih was from Pakistan. This boy managed to escape child slavery at 10 years old and ended up becoming a leader in the movement to put slavery to an end. He helped in getting over 3,000 children to escape bondage and went all over the world to speak of this issue. Masih was assassinated at 12 and roughly 800 people attended his funeral service.
Bana al-Abed
If you see young kids using social media, they may not appear to be changing lives. However, if you come across Abed’s Twitter page, it will surely change your mind. At the age of 7 years old, she used her little voice to speak about the issues concerning war-torn Syria. With help from her dear mother, Abed has called upon world leaders to make a change.