With a maturity and poise that belied her tender years, Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teen shot by the Taliban for championing girls' education has stood by world leaders and called for books not guns.
"Instead of sending weapons, instead of sending tanks to Afghanistan and all these countries which are suffering from terrorism, send books," she pleaded.
"Instead of sending tanks send pens," she urged, her hair modestly covered by a scarf as she took part in the first anniversary of the Global Education First initiative at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday.
In October last year, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman as she was on her way to school in her usual bus in an attack that drew worldwide condemnation.
Gravely wounded and close to death, the Pakistani schoolgirl was flown to Britain for surgery. She returned to school in England last March, after recovering from her injuries.
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Now she has become a global advocate for the right of all children, particularly girls, to have a proper education.
"Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers," Malala argued at an event attended by Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Croatian premier Ivo Josipovic.
According to the United Nations, 57 million children around the world of primary school age are denied an education - and 52 per cent of them are girls.
"This is my dream to see every child to be educated," Malala told the gathering, building on themes of one of her heroes, Martin Luther King.
"This is my dream to see peace everywhere in the world, in Nigeria, in Syria, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan."
It was not Malala's first trip to the United Nations. Earlier this year in July, she received a standing ovation for an address to the general assembly at which she vowed she would never be silenced.
