“I’m happy to be back”: Malala Yousafzai returns to Pakistan for global girls’ education summit
Malala Yousafzai became a household name after she was attacked by Pakistan Taliban in 2012. AFP
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai expressed her joy and gratitude upon her return to her native Pakistan for a global summit focused on advancing girls’ education in the Islamic world.
“I’m truly honored, overwhelmed, and happy to be back in Pakistan,” Yousafzai said upon her arrival at the conference in Islamabad on Saturday.
The summit, hosted over two days, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and gathered representatives from Muslim-majority countries, addressing the pressing issue of tens of millions of girls being out of school.
The education activist, who survived a targeted attack by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 as a schoolgirl, has only returned to her homeland a few times since the incident.
Yousafzai is set to address the summit on Sunday, with a focus on advocating for girls’ education and holding the Taliban accountable for their ongoing restrictions on Afghan women and girls.
“I will speak about protecting rights for all girls to go to school, and why leaders must hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against Afghan women & girls,” she stated on the social media platform X on Friday.
Pakistan itself faces a dire education crisis, with over 26 million children out of school due to poverty, one of the highest numbers globally, according to government statistics. The situation is compounded by Afghanistan’s complete ban on girls’ education under the Taliban regime, which has drawn global condemnation and been labeled “gender apartheid” by the United Nations.
While Pakistan invited representatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban government to the summit, no response has been received.
Malala Yousafzai, who was just 15 when she was shot on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, has since become a global symbol of resilience and advocacy for education.
She was evacuated to the United Kingdom following the attack and, at 17, became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her relentless work championing girls’ education worldwide.
