Malala Yousafzai has been named the youngest UN Messenger of Peace

Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai was appointed a UN Messenger of Peace to promote girls' education on Monday.

At 19, she is the youngest person to receive the honor. She was also the youngest person to win the Nobel peace prize in 2014 when she was just 17.

Accepting the accolade, Yousafzai said, “[Bringing change] starts with us and it should start now."

The Pakistani education activist has become a prominent global figure in the years after she was shot in the head as she left her school in Pakistan's Swat valley, northwest of the country's capital, Islamabad.

Yousafzai who was fourteen at the time of the attack was targeted for her  campaign against efforts by the Taliban to ban girls from attending school.

During the award ceremony, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told Yousafzai that she is "not only a hero, but also "a very committed and generous person."

UN Messengers of Peace are carefully selected, distinguished individuals, in the field of "art, literature, science, entertainment, sports or other fields of public life, who have agreed to help focus worldwide attention on the work of the global Organization."

They are prominent personalities who volunteer their time, talent and passion to "raise awareness of UN’s efforts to improve the lives of billions of people everywhere."

Other Messengers of Peace include Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein (eradication of extreme poverty and hunger) and actors Leonardo di Caprio (climate change) and Charlize Theron (prevention of HIV and elimination of violence against women).