Malala’s ‘dream’ as return to Pakistan puts education first
ALMOST six years after being shot in the head just for going to school, Malala Yousafzai has returned to her Pakistani homeland to launch a series of education projects for girls.
Malala said her trip to Pakistan – her first since she was airlifted to the UK for treatment after being shot by a Taliban gunman in 2012 – was a “dream”.
The campaigner was visibly emotional as she gave a short speech about returning home for the trip, and about her passion for empowering women and girls, after a meeting with Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Pakistan’s prime minister, in Islamabad.
“For the last five years I dreamed that I can set foot in my country,” she said, wiping away tears. “It’s the happiest day of my life. I still can’t believe it’s happening.” She is expected to use the trip to launch a number of educational initiatives, institutions and scholarships under the Malala Fund, her foundation.
The 20-year-old, now a student at Oxford University, said: “I hope we can all join hands in this mission for the betterment of Pakistan, so that our future generation can receive the right education and women can become empowered, do jobs, stand on their own two feet and earn for themselves.”
Malala won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, becoming the youngest ever recipient at 17, for her education advocacy. She has already used some of her prize money to open a school in Shangla, near her home town of Swat, earlier this month, but her new initiatives are expected to be more wide-ranging.
Shawana Shah, a women’s rights activist and friend of Malala’s family, told The Daily Telegraph that the purpose of the visit was to launch some projects aimed particularly at female students in the remote Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region where Malala, now 20, grew up.
It is believed the Malala Fund will collaborate with the Benazir Income Support Programme, set up to fight poverty in the name of Benazir Bhutto, the assassinated ex-prime minister.