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Top 5 Malala Quotes

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Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban after advocating for girls’ right to education, addressed the United Nations on her 16th birthday, speaking about the power of education to overcome extremism. The U.N. declared July 12 “Malala Day” to honor Yousafzai, who went back to school in March after recovering from the October attack.

According to a report released by UNESCO and Save the Children, 95 percent of the 28.5 million children who are not receiving a primary education live in low and lower-middle income countries, and girls make up 55 percent of those who are not in school. The report also stated that there were more than 3,600 documented attacks on education similar to that faced by Yousafzai. Listed below are five of her most inspiring “Malala quotes”, which highlight the influence and importance of education.

  1. “We realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them.”
  2. “There was a time when women social activists asked men to stand up for women’s rights, but this time we will do it by ourselves.”
  3. “I raise up my voice – not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.””
  4. “We cannot succeed when half of us are held back.”
  5. “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first.”

– Katie Bandera

Sources: Huffington Post
Photo: The Guardian

 

Read Humanitarian Quotes.

Malala Yousafzai Visits the UN

Malala Yousafzai rose to international recognition when she and her classmates were shot by the Taliban when they attempted to go to school in Pakistan. She has been voted one of the World’s 100 Most Influential People by Time Magazine and now she is going to visit the UN on Friday, July 12th to tell her story and raise awareness of global education.

Yousafzai was only 15 when members of the Taliban shot her and her friends while they were taking the bus to school after all schools for girls were shut down in Pakistan. They wanted to teach her a lesson and show everyone else what would happen if they dared to stand up for themselves. The gunmen targeterd her because she was not just a school girl, she was also the voice of her generation as a blogger about the injustices they suffered under the hand of the Taliban.

Since the incident, Yousafzai has returned to school and has even been reunited with some of her old friends. She was the first to sign the UN Special Envoy for Education petition urging immediate action to make sure every child receives an education, and for her actions she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize.  November 10th is known as Malala Day and it is clear that she is not only one of the most well-known students in the world, but one of the most potent as well.

The United Nations will be holding a youth assembly dubbed Malala Day this Friday, giving young people the chance to run the UN for the day. Yousafzai will be joined by hundreds of other students from over 80 countries for this event. Each one will tell their story and try to bring international attention to the pressing need of education. There are around 57 million children missing out on a primary education, as well as over 120 million teens and young adults without basic reading and writing skills. Without an education, these children will be incapable of getting jobs into today’s changing world market when they become adults. Therefore they will continue to live in poverty and feed the cycle of poverty.

The Secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, has started the Global Education First Initiative. The main goals of the initiative are to get every child in school, provide a safe learning environment for students, and improve the quality of education. In a op-ed piece about Malala’s impending visit with Huffington Post he stated, “We must do all we can to ensure that schools are safe and secure learning spaces. Nowhere in the world should it be an act of bravery for an adult to teach or a girl to go to school.” He believes that in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals and prepare for their deadline in 2015, we must focus on the importance of a good education.

The youth assembly will hopefully bring attention to the fact that education is a fundamental right that should be awarded to everyone. Opportunity and lifestyle will only begin to be equal once every woman, man, and child has the same access to learning, and therefore the same access to jobs.

– Chelsea Evans

Source: Huffington Post, UN News Center, Time Magazine, Global Education First Initiative
Photo: SCMP

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Malala Proves Education is Key to Empowerment

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Malala Yousafzai is a young education rights campaigner from Pakistan. Malala will soon be celebrating her 16th birthday, a miracle after she was shot by extremists for her outspoken beliefs on education. Malala will celebrate her birthday by traveling to the United Nations where students from more than 80 countries will join her.

Malala and the other young activists will be assembled to call for global education for everyone in the world. She and the other young diplomats believe that education is a right for all – one of the Millennium Development Goals, and a vital component of the path to global citizenship. This belief is well founded in the fact that universal compulsory education represents a future that the world wants. Malala was the first person to sign on to a new worldwide petition calling for urgent action to ensure the right of every child to safely attend school. The petition serves as an initial step in focusing the UN agenda on education.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon supports Malala’s mission to bring education to the world. He states that education is an essential step in a world without poverty, violence, discrimination, and disease. He also recognizes that in order to achieve these objectives, the global society needs to continue pushing forward. The secretary general recognizes that we, as a global society, have made progress on this issue, however, there is much more work to be done. Ban expresses that no child or woman should have to consider going to school as an act of bravery.

Ban states that too many girls around the world are subjected to extremist threats for trying to obtain an education. The benefits of educating women in developing countries have been proven time and time again. Ban explains that when women and girls are educated, a society develops at a more rapid pace than without their education. Additionally, education increases future earnings for women, allowing them to provide their families with additional resources, over time, lifting them out of poverty.

If education is key to empowerment as the path to economic stability and development, why is it so widely contested in many developing countries? The answer lies in fear. If we as a global community continue to fear education for all, we will fail to grow as a global economy. More steps must be taken to ensure each child has access to education.

-Caitlin Zusy
Source: Huffington Post, UN News Center
Photo: Stanford Bookhaven

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What is the Global Education First Initiative?

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The necessity for global education has always been present, but what many may not know is that worldwide, 61 million primary-aged children are out of school, of which more than half are girls. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon seeks to remedy this with the Global Education First Initiative – a program that works to raise awareness of the necessity of education as well as to provide better access to education, as well as to improve the quality of learning for every child the program puts into school.

In order to put every child in school, some major goals for development include eliminating cost barriers to attending school, identifying and aiding those that need nutrition and health support, eliminating the gender disparity, and building millions of new classrooms around the world, especially in rural and crisis-affected areas. The second focus of the initiative, to improve quality of learning, is going to be met by training of teachers and improving learning materials. These measures will insure that children are more ready for further education as well as for life outside of school – with proper education come far more opportunities for success in life.

The last major focus of the initiative is to foster global citizenship, or in other words, promote peace, community, and innovation throughout the world through education. In the words of Ban Ki-moon, “The world faces global challenges that require global solutions. Education must cultivate an active care for the world and for those with whom we share it”. Ki-moon sees education as a driving force for human development that will drive down inequalities and improve health while fostering solidarity around the globe.

This push for education has been heartily embraced by education rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who has volunteered with the UN to speak on July 12 in favor of the right to education for girls, and for all those who may desire it. As a survivor of extreme violence because of her advocacy, Malala’s message is clear: “…that all students should be given the chance to attend school with adequate safety. Obtaining education is every man and woman’s birth right and no one is allowed to take away this right from them”.

In honor of Malala’s efforts, and in part encouraged and inspired by the Global Education First Initiative, the UN will be launching a global petition called A World at School – Stand With Malala as an effort to establish universal primary education by December 2015. It is the hope of the United Nations that someday universal education will be achieved and that because of this the world will become a more stable, healthier, and happier place.

– Sarah Rybak

Sources: Global Education First, Women News Network
Photo: Global Education First

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Malala Fund Created to Support Girls’ Education

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In October 2012, the Taliban shot Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old girl, for speaking up about women’s rights and education. She survived the brutal attempt on her life and in response, became determined to help every child in the world receive an education. To help make this dream a reality, she started the Malala Fund.

The Malala Fund was created with the help of an already established non-profit, Vital Voices, which encourages women’s empowerment and leadership. The Malala Fund’s aim is to support education for children across the globe.

Since the attempt on her life, much of the world has stood up in support of Malala. She even had a song titled Ricochet (Malala’s Song) written about her by a girl named Samantha Anne Martin; all of the profit created from the song on iTunes will go towards the Malala Fund. On February 4th, Malala released a video stating that she was still alive and doing well after various surgeries, and that now she will dedicate her life to serving girls across the world who need her and need help attaining an education.

Malala’s father has told ABC that he believes his daughter should serve as an inspiration to the children of the world. Perhaps he is right, because despite the fact she almost died for supporting the right woman to receive an education, she has become even more committed to the cause following her recovery.

Two important organizations, The United Nations Foundation and Girl Up, have given their support to the Malala Fund and her cause. Some militants still wish to harm Malala but nonetheless, Malala has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and remains optimistic.

To donate to the Malala Fund, see the Democracy in Action webpage.

– Corina Balsamo

Sources: ABC News, Vital Voices, New York Times
Photo: The Daily Beast