This girl from Afghanistan overturned the order with her voice, now the world salutes her!

17-year-old girl Neela Ibrahimi from Afghanistan has been awarded the International Children's Peace Prize. This is the same award that Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan has also won. Neela is the girl who was banned from speaking in her own country. Even after this, she did not give up and kept fighting for the rights of girls in Kabul.

Neela was given this award at a ceremony in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Earlier, this award was given to Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg, and Nkosi Johnson. Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The Taliban is in power here since the withdrawal of America in 2021.

In an interview, Neela talked about her first work as an activist. She said that at that time it felt risky, but perhaps I could not understand the whole idea of it, because I was only 13 or 14 years old. She further said, that if women's rights are being affected in one part of the world, then the whole world will suffer in some way or the other.

Before the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in March 2021, the Kabul Directorate of Education banned girls over the age of 12 from singing in public. Neela protested. She protested. She refused to be silenced. Neela recorded a protest song as part of the #IAmMySong campaign and it went viral. Her song had such an impact that the order was overturned within a few weeks.

Neela said that was the first time I thought, wow. Like if I want this, if I feel I want to live this way, I can speak up and it can be accepted. Neela fled Afghanistan with her family to Pakistan with the help of the 30 Birds Foundation. She then moved to Canada where she continued to advocate for Afghan girls.