Auction of Malala Painting Raises $82,000 for Girlsâ€™ Education

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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has reported that an oil painting of 16-year-old Pakistani schoolgirl and activist, Malala Yousafzai, by British artist Jonathan Yeo, has been sold for $82,000 at an auction in New York.

Proceeds from the sale will go to support the Malala Fund, which will be directed to Nigerian charities focused on education and advocacy for women and girls, a topic in the news since which has been Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 girls.

The Taliban, for campaigning for girls’ education had shot Malala in the head in 2012.

Yeo told BBC that he wanted the portrait to convey 'this extraordinary dichotomy' of someone very young but still possessing 'enormous power and wisdom.'

“Her birth instinct isn’t self-pity, rather what else she could do to help other girls in her position.”

According to a spokesperson for Malala, the young activist is “delighted that her portrait raised so much at yesterday’s auction and that the generosity of the buyer will allow the Malala Fund to help those working on the ground in Nigeria to support education for girls and women.”