Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai to Attend Girls’ Education Summit in Islamabad
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai will participate in a summit in Islamabad aimed at advancing girls’ education and raising awareness about women’s empowerment.
Malala, a staunch advocate for girls’ education, survived an attack by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on October 9, 2012, when she, along with her friends Kainat and Shazia, was returning home from school in Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The TTP attacked them in retaliation for Malala’s activism. She was severely injured, receiving treatment before being evacuated from Pakistan. Since then, Malala has only returned to her homeland on rare occasions.
“I’m excited to join Muslim leaders worldwide for an important conference on girls’ education,” Malala shared in a post on X. “On Sunday, I will speak about ensuring the right for all girls to attend school and why we must hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against Afghan women and girls.”
Her charity, the Malala Fund, confirmed that she would be attending the summit in person, which will be held on January 11 and 12, focusing on girls’ education in Muslim communities.
Afghanistan is the only nation where girls and women are banned from attending school and university. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, they have enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law, which the United Nations has condemned as “gender apartheid.” Girls are permitted only to attend primary school, and women’s roles are mostly limited to segregated positions in health and education.
The summit, which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is set to bring together ministers, ambassadors, and representatives from 44 countries, the United Nations, and the World Bank. It aims to reaffirm the Muslim community’s shared commitment to empowering girls through education.
Federal Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui stated that the two-day conference would address barriers to women’s education throughout the Muslim world.
In 2018, Malala made her first return to Swat, more than five years after the attack. That year, she also visited areas devastated by catastrophic flooding, where she met with victims of the disaster.
