United Nations celebrate Malala Day today, July 12, as recognition to Pakistani teen activist Malala Yousufzai.

The United Nations particularly chose July 12 for the Malala Day because it is also the teen's birthday. She is celebrating her 16th birthday today.

As part of the celebration, the United Nations tasked Ms Malala to presen the U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon a petition asking for help to have all children, particularly woman, attend school by 2015. The petition had already been signed by more than 330,000 people.

The petition, more than anything else, was aimed to call on U.N. General Assembly to fund new teachers, schools and books, and to give an assurance that all children will be attending school by December of 2015.

In an interview with The Voice of America, Martin Nesirky, spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general, said that Mr Ban welcomed Ms Malala as a significant person to the United Nations.

Mr Nesirky said, "From the day that terrible shooting - assassination attempt - took place, Malala Yousufzai is a symbol for the rights of girls, and indeed the rights of all young people, to an education. And she has further understood that symbolism through her remarkable recovery and her eloquence in explaining her case and her position."

Ms Malala also addressed more than 500 young leaders who came from around the globe at a Youth Assembly organised by Vuk Jeremik, General Assembly President and Gordon Brown, U.N. special envoy for global education.

According to a United Nations recent report, there are about 57 million children around the world who do not have the privilege of attending primary school. Majority of these children live in war conflict zones. In an answer to this, the secretary-general launched the U.N. Global Education First Initiative aimed at having all children in school. The program also aimed to improve the quality of Education and Ms Malala is going to be instrumental to all these objectives.

Ms Malala was more than grateful to still be celebrating her 16th birthday today after being targeted by assassination by Taliban gunmen who shoot her because of promoting girls' rights to education in Pakistan. She was shot on her way from school.