On July 12 2013 on her 16th birthday, Malala Yousafzai addressed the Youth Takeover assembly at the UN.
“The terrorists thought that they would change my aims & stop my ambitions,” she said, “but nothing changed in my life, except this: weakness, fear & hopelessness died. Strength, power & courage was born.” (1)
Only a few months before, Malala’s life was changed forever.
Malala having been born in Pakistan in 1997, was already starting her fight for freedom, simply by being born a girl. Her Father, Ziauddin Yousafzai was a Teacher & ran a school for girls in their village.
Malala loved school, but once the Taliban took control of their village in 2008; all the girls were banned from receiving any form of education & they were all sent home.
Malala began to speak out against the injustices suffered by the women & girls, something the Taliban would not tolerate & ultimately making Malala a target.
In October 2012 on her way home from school, a masked gunman stopped her transport, asked who Malala was & shot her in the head, injuring two other girls in the process. Following treatment at a military hospital in Rawalpindi, Malala was flown to the UK & treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham – an NHS (National Health Service) hospital with a major trauma centre specialising in both gunshot wounds & head injuries.
Following months of surgeries & rehabilitation, Malala began a new life with her family in the UK. Despite still being a target for Taliban reprisal, Malala was determined to not give up the fight for women & girls rights & access to education.
“It was then I knew I had a choice: I could live a quiet life or I could make the most of this new life I had been given. I determined to continue my fight until every girl could go to school.” (1)
Malala has subsequently set up the Malala Fund dedicated to giving every girl an opportunity to achieve a future she chooses, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 & became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate.
Malala has defied the odds, survived what should have been a deadly attack by the Taliban & in 2020 she graduated from Oxford University having studied Philosophy, Politics & Economics.
Now more determined than ever, Malala invests in developing country educators & activists, like her father, through Malala Fund’s Education Champion Network, hold leaders accountable for their promises to girls. (1)
With nearly 130 million girls out of education globally, Malala continues to fight for their cause. With the recent Taliban take over of Afghanistan it is an extremely worrying time for all women & girls. With women already having been sent home from work, Universities refusing to accept women’s return, all images of women being covered up or painted over; the world is holding it’s breath for the future of the women & girls of Afghanistan.
Despite promises from the Taliban that women & girls can still function within their new regime, this must be under the rules of Sharia Law, which does not recognise women & girls rights.
Nearly 3.7 million children are out of school in Afghanistan — and more than half are girls. (1)
Early marriage often prevents girls from completing their education because the Ministry of Education forbids married girls from attending government-run schools. As a result, Afghan girls spend an average of 5.6 years in school. (1)
Malala Yousafzai has defied all the odds by surviving a Taliban attack & remains to this day a target for reprisal. As she continues to speak out, to hold world leaders accountable for their promises to women & girls; Malala Yousafzai continues to be a voice for so many who are silenced by tyranny & oppression.
Written by Katy-Jane Mason for & on behalf of Virtually Smart
- https://malala.org/malalas-story?sc=header
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19944078
