Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai has arrived in Pakistan for the third time in over two years to participate in a two-day global summit on girls’ education in Islamabad. Speaking at the event, Malala expressed her joy, saying, “I’m truly honoured, overwhelmed, and happy to be back in Pakistan,” as reported by Geo News on Saturday.
Malala, who survived a 2012 assassination attempt by the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) while still a schoolgirl, has made only a few visits to her homeland since the attack. The conference, attended by delegates from Muslim-majority nations, aims to address the challenge of millions of girls being out of school. Malala is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech on Sunday.
On social media platform X, she stated, “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 disclosed that Afghanistan’s Taliban government had been invited to the conference but did not respond. Afghanistan remains the sole country where girls and women are banned from educational institutions, a policy the UN has termed “gender apartheid” since the Taliban regained power in 2021.
Pakistan also grapples with an education crisis, with government data revealing over 26 million children are out of school, largely due to poverty — one of the highest numbers globally.
Malala became a global symbol for girls’ education after being attacked by TTP militants on a school bus in Swat Valley. Following her evacuation to the UK, she emerged as an international advocate for education and, at 17, became the youngest-ever recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
