Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Gordon Brown, the UN special envoy for education, has said Malala would be a worthy recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize 
 
 Tens of thousands of people around the world have signed an online petition calling for the Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. 
 
 The UK government has also been urged to back the campaign, with advocates saying Malala Yousafzai represents those denied an education. 
 
 Malala's father said she was "humbled" by the support from around the world. 
 
 Doctors in the UK, where she is being treated, say she is making progress. 
 
 Malala, 15, is widely known as a campaigner for girls' education in Pakistan. 
 
 In early 2009 she wrote an anonymous diary for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban, who had banned all girls in her area from attending school. 
 
 Meanwhile Saturday has been declared a global day of action in Malala's name aimed at getting school places for 32 millions girls around the world who are not attending classes. 
 
 The UN Special Envoy for Education Gordon Brown is in Islamabad ahead of the day to discuss ways of getting Pakistani girls currently out of school into the education system. 
 
 'Recovering well' 
 
 Malala's father, Ziauddin - who is visiting his daughter in the UK - said she wanted to convey how grateful and amazed she was that people around the world were interested in her well-being. 
 
 "Malala is recovering well, and she wants me to tell you she has been inspired, and humbled by the thousands of messages, cards and gifts. They have helped her survive and stay strong," he said. 
 
 He has also said that she was a worthy candidate for the peace award. 
 
 "Malala stands for the human dignity, tolerance and pluralism. She has drawn with her sacred blood a clear line between barbarity and human civilisation. Her voice is the voice of the people of Pakistan and all downtrodden and deprived children of the world." 
 
 In the UK, campaigner Shahida Choudhary said she set up the petition "because a Nobel Peace Prize for Malala will send a clear message that the world is watching". 
 
 A nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize may only be submitted by any person who meets the nomination criteria and the deadline is usually in February. The Nobel committee then prepares a shortlist which is not made public and laureates are chosen in October. 
 
 A few weeks before she was shot, the teenager told friends she wanted to campaign on their behalf, reports the BBC's Orla Guerin in Islamabad. 
 
 She and two other schoolgirls were attacked as they returned home from school in Mingora in the Swat Valley in north-west Pakistan on 9 October. 
 
 The gunman who boarded the van in which she was travelling asked for her by name before firing three shots at her. 
 
 After initial surgery in Pakistan she was flown to a specialist trauma unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, in the UK, where doctors say she is making good progress. ||||| On October 9, 2012, 15-year old Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in response to her campaign against the destruction of girls schools in Pakistan. In the face of terror, Malala risked her life to speak out for the rights of girls everywhere. Malala's bravery has sparked a global movement and we believe the Nobel Foundation should give her the Nobel Peace Prize. 
 
 The first step in the process is to get Malala nominated for the prize and only certain people, like a national politician, can do this. That’s why I am asking UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander and the three main party leaders David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband to nominate Malala. 
 
 Malala doesn’t just represent one young woman, she speaks out for all those who are denied an education purely on the basis of their gender. I am one of those women. I was born in the UK but when I was 16 I was taken out of school, sent to Pakistan and forced into a marriage. 
 
 While my friends completed their GCSE’s and A-levels I was trapped, afraid of what would happen to me if I resisted. Eventually, I managed to escape back to the UK and when I was 28 I was finally able return to education, but I still think about the years I missed. I also think about all the other girls in our communities today who are in the same situation. I know there are girls like Malala here in the UK. 
 
 A Nobel Peace Prize for Malala will send a clear message that the world is watching and will support those who stand up for gender equality and universal human rights, including the right to education for girls. 
 
 Worldwide support: 
 
 This is a global campaign, calling on multiple countries to nominate Malala. While Tarek Fatah, the person who started the first 'Nobel Prize for Malala' petition, lives in Canada, almost half the people who have signed the petition come from countries around the world. 
 
 Now people are setting up this same petition in their own country asking for their political leaders to come together to nominate Malala for the Nobel Prize. 
 
 The counter on this petition reflects the cumulative efforts of these petitions from around the world. 
 
 If you don’t have a petition in your country yet and you would like to start one, send Tarek a note at Nobel4Malala@gmail.com with your country in the subject line. 
 
 Twitter Hashtag: #Nobel4Malala 
 
 Canada Petition: https://www.change.org/Malala 
 
 German Petition: https://www.change.org/malalaspreis 
 
 French petition: http://www.change.org/nobelpourmalala
– As Malala Yousufzai continues her recovery in a UK hospital, more than 90,000 supporters hope the Pakistani teenager has a big honor in store next year: the Nobel Peace Prize. A petition at Change.org to get the 15-year-old nominated for the honor is drawing support from around the world, reports the BBC. Malala was shot in the head last month by Taliban gunmen after becoming an outspoken advocate of girls' education. "In the face of terror, Malala risked her life to speak out for the rights of girls everywhere," reads the petition.