ISLAMABAD: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai will attend an international summit on girls’ education hosted by her native Pakistan, where she was nearly killed by militants as a schoolgirl.
Yousafzai was evacuated from the country in 2012 after being shot by the Pakistan Taliban, who were enraged by her activism, and she has returned to the country only a handful of times since.
A spokesperson for the Malala Fund charity confirmed Yousafzai will appear in person at the summit, which will focus on education in Islamic nations.
“I am excited to join Muslim leaders from around the world for a critical conference on girls’ education,” she said on Friday in a post on social media platform X.
“On Sunday, 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.”
Pakistan’s education minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told AFP the Taliban government in Afghanistan has been invited to attend, although Islamabad has not received a response.
“Nevertheless, representatives from various organisations dedicated to girls’ education in Afghanistan will be participating in the event,” he said.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are banned from going to school and university.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban government there has imposed an austere version of Islamic law that the United Nations has called “gender apartheid“.
Girls are only allowed to attend primary school, while women are largely restricted to working in segregated environments in health or education.
The Taliban administration claims that Islamic law “guarantees” the rights of Afghan men and women.
– Focus on Muslim world –
The two-day summit backed by the Saudi Arabia-based Muslim World League will be held in the Pakistani capital on Saturday and Sunday and opened by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
It brings together ministers, ambassadors and religious scholars from 44 countries, as well as representatives from the UN and World Bank.
Tens of millions of girls are out of school in Muslim-majority countries, including Bangladesh and Nigeria.
Pakistan is facing a severe education crisis with more than 26 million children out of school, mostly as a result of poverty, according to official government figures — one of the highest rates in the world.
The summit will confirm “the shared commitment of (the) Muslim community to empower girls through education”, according to a government statement.
Yousafzai became a household name after she was attacked by Pakistan Taliban militants on a school bus in the remote Swat valley.
Militancy was widespread in the region at the time as the war between the Afghan Taliban and NATO forces raged across the border in Afghanistan.
The Pakistan and Afghan Taliban are separate groups but share close links and similar ideologies, including a strong disbelief in educating girls.
Yousafzai was evacuated to the United Kingdom and went on to become a global advocate for girls’ education and, at the age of 17, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner.