Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai will visit Pakistan this weekend to attend an international conference on girls' education in Muslim communities. The event will take place in Islamabad on January 11-12, and Malala will be one of the keynote speakers.
This will be Malala's third visit to Pakistan since she was flown to the UK for medical treatment after being shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012. Malala, who was 15 at the time, was targeted because of her advocacy for girls' education. Her last visit to Pakistan was in October 2022, when she returned to her hometown for the first time since the attack.
The conference, titled "Girls' Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities," will be hosted by Pakistan's Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training. It aims to bring attention to the challenges and opportunities for advancing girls' education in Muslim communities around the world. The conference will also aim to foster dialogue and find solutions to these challenges.
Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, will open the event and deliver the keynote address, emphasizing Pakistan’s commitment to promoting girls' education and gender equality. More than 150 international leaders, including ministers, ambassadors, and representatives from organizations like UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank, will attend.
The conference will also highlight success stories of improving education equity and share innovative solutions. One key issue will be the ongoing ban on girls' education in Afghanistan, imposed by the Taliban government.
The conference will conclude with the signing of the Islamabad Declaration, a pledge to create inclusive and sustainable education reforms for a brighter future.