Malala Yousafzai, the girl who defied Taliban orders not to go to school which resulted in her being retributively shot by the group, has met with US president Barack Obama.
The inspiring 16-year-old from Pakistan has been lauded for her education and women’s rights activism, leading her to be hotly-tipped for the Nobel Peace Prize which was issued on Friday.
Arriving in Washington to speak at two events, the teenager said that she asked the president to engage in greater co-operation with the Pakistani government.
‘I thanked president Obama for the United States’ work in supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees,’ she said.
‘I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fuelling terrorism. Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact.’
Malala missed out on the coveted Nobel prize, which was given to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for its work in destroying Syria’s arsenal.
President Obama – who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009 – met Malala on Friday alongside his wife, Michelle, and their daughter Malia.
Their meeting had even more significance because it coincided with the International Day of the Girl, which was declared as such by the United Nations at the end of 2011.
Malala has been in the public eye since she was attacked by members of the Taliban as she travelled home from school in October 2012.
She received medical treatment in the UK and is currently residing in Birmingham with her family.
Militants have vowed that they will kill the schoolgirl if the chance arises, because they believe she ‘targeted and criticised Islam.’
Her continued campaigning on the importance of education for young girls has been heralded across the globe.
A memoir entitled I am Malala was released on Tuesday, while she was awarded a Pride of Britain award a few days earlier and received an invite to visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
This week she also made The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart speechless with her moving reply to a question he had posed to her.
No comments:
Post a Comment