Malala Yousafzai to lead first ever UN youth takeover

Pakistani schoolgirl, Malala Yousafzai, will lead the first ever youth takeover of the United Nations General Assembly.

The teenager will mark her 16th birthday at the big event, which takes place in New York City on 12 July.

She is expected to call for education to be a priority for girls across the globe, highlighting the needs of 'other Malalas' around the world.

Last October she was shot whilst on her school bus in Pakistan, after campaigning for girl's education there.

Malala now goes to school in Birmingham here in the UK, where she was treated for her injuries.

She has done a lot of work to promote education for girls for which she's been praised by movie star Angelina Jolie and even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

The book, which will be called "I am Malala", will tell the story of the 15-year-old who was shot by Taliban gunmen after she became an campaigner for girl's education.

Malala said; "I want to tell my story, but it will also be the story of 61m children who can't get education. I want it to be part of the campaign to give every boy and girl the right to go to school. It is their basic right."

The book is due to be out later this year.

 What is the United Nations?

• The United Nations (UN) is made up of 192 countries from around the world.
• It was set up in 1945 - after the Second World War - as a way of bringing people together and to avoid war.
• The head of the UN is called the Secretary-General.
• The current head is Ban Ki-moon, from South Korea. He is the eighth UN Secretary-General and took charge on 1 January 2007.

From CBBC News