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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai arrived in Pakistan, marking her third visit to the country after more than two years. She is attending a two-day global conference on girls’ education in Islamabad as a special guest.
“I’m truly honoured, overwhelmed, and happy to be back in Pakistan,” Malala expressed upon her arrival at the conference, according to a report by Geo News on Saturday.
Malala, who survived an assassination attempt by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in 2012 when she was a schoolgirl, has visited her home country only a few times since the attack.
The conference brings together representatives from Muslim-majority countries, where millions of girls remain out of school. Malala is set to address the summit on Sunday.
Taking to social media platform X, she shared, “I will speak about protecting the rights of all girls to go to school and why leaders must hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against Afghan women and girls.”
Federal Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui revealed to AFP that the Afghan Taliban government had been invited to participate but had not responded. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls and women are barred from schools and universities.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Afghan Taliban has implemented policies the United Nations describes as “gender apartheid.”
Pakistan, too, faces a significant education crisis, with more than 26 million children out of school due to poverty, according to government data — one of the highest figures globally.
Malala rose to international prominence after being attacked by TTP militants on her school bus in Swat Valley in 2012. Evacuated to the UK, she became a global advocate for girls’ education and, at 17, the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
