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.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
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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.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
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Malala and her family visit the United Nations headquarters in New York before meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in August.
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Malala speaks during the Commonwealth Day observance service at Westminster Abbey in London. Malala has lived in Britain since the Taliban attack.
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Anthony Harvey/Getty Images for Free The Children
Malala speaks at a youth empowerment event at London's Wembley Arena in March.
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Yui Mok/Pool/AP
Malala gives a copy of her book to Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a reception at Buckingham Palace in October 2013.
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Jessica Rinaldi/AP
Malala addresses students and faculty of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, after receiving the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award in September 2013.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Andrew Burton/Getty Images
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."
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
from TIME
Malala was one of seven people featured on the cover of Time magazine's 100 most influential people edition in April 2013.
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Malala returns to school at Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, England, on March 19, 2013. She said she had "achieved her dream."
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QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL BIRMINGHAM/AFP/Getty Images
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.
Photos: Malala Yousafzai
MOHAMMAD REHMANMOHAMMAD REHMAN/AFP/Getty Images
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.
She narrowly escaped death and, since her recovery, has continued campaigning for the rights of girls around the world to access education.
Yousafzai accepted the accolade – the highest honor bestowed by the UN – from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York Monday evening.
“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. “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.”
In a heartfelt speech, Guterres described Yousafzai as a “hero” and “the symbol of one of the most important causes in the world.”
“It is an enormous pleasure to have you as our Messenger of Peace,” he said, praising her “courageous defense of the rights of all people, including women and girls, to education and equality” and her “unwavering commitment to peace.”
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 focus 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 persons with disabilities.
