Malala Day

On October 9 a Taliban gunman boarded a school bus in Northwest Pakistan, asked for Malala Yousafzai by name, and shot her in the head.  Malala, a 15 year old Pakistani girl, had been an outspoken activist for girls’ education in Pakistan.  The shooting was meant to accomplish two things:

1.       Kill Malala.

2.       Dissuade others from advocating for girls’ education.

In claiming responsibility for the attack, Ihsanullah Ihsan, Chief Spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban said of Malala, “She considers President Obama as her ideal leader.  Malala is the symbol of the infidels and obscenity.”  He continued to say if Malala survived the attack, the Taliban would try to kill her again.  Militants have destroyed nearly 460 schools in the Federally Administered Tribal Area of Northwestern Pakistan. 

Not only did Malala survive (she is currently receiving pro bono medical care in the U.K.) but the attack has rallied support for women’s education in Pakistan and around the world.  In fact, support has been so strong that the U.N. declared Saturday, November 10, as Malala Day.  In a taped message UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon referred to Malala Yousafzai as, “a global symbol of every girl’s right to an education.”  In addition the very fact that Malala Day is being celebrated across the globe under the banner of the United Nations demonstrates the universal appeal and impact of her message.

In his own address on Saturday, Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said, “Pakistan joins the world community today to pay tributes to Malala Yousafzai, the daughter of Pakistan, on her bravery, courage and unflinching determination and her passion for education.  [The] attack on Malala Yousafzai was not merely an attack on an individual, rather, it was an attack on our values, our culture, our traditions and our way of life.”  Prime Minister Ashraf continued to call Malala a voice for those who stand for women’s education, a right guaranteed under the Constitution of Pakistan and ordained by Islamic teachings.

While this rush of support for a good case is great, the current state of education in Pakistan is appalling.  The latest data from UNESCO indicates that Pakistan has 3.2 million primary school age girls who are not in school, ranking Pakistan second in the world for most girls out of school behind number one Nigeria (5.5 million). 

The Pakistani government, the U.N., the World Bank, and other international organizations have set an April 2013 deadline to develop a plan to provide education to all of Pakistan's school-aged children by the end of 2015.

For more on this movement please check out I am Malala.