WEBDESK: Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize winner and education activist, has arrived in Pakistan to attend a two-day international conference on girls’ education.
The event, “Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities,” is taking place in Islamabad and brings together around 150 delegates from 47 countries.
The conference focuses on addressing the challenges girls face in accessing education across Muslim communities and finding practical solutions.
Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to open the summit, which includes participants from various Muslim-majority countries where many girls are out of school.
Malala said, “I’m honoured and overwhelmed to be back.” She plans to address the summit on Sunday and will talk about the importance of ensuring education for all girls.
Farah Naz Akbar, Parliamentary Secretary for Education, welcomed Malala at the airport with a bouquet. Other notable attendees include the Malaysian Minister of Religious Affairs, scholars from Mauritania, and representatives from Myanmar, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, and the United States.
Pakistan’s Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui confirmed that the Taliban government in Afghanistan was invited to participate, but no response was received. Afghanistan remains the only country where girls and women are banned from schools and universities, a policy the UN has called “gender apartheid.”
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