Malala Yousafzai at Muslim girls’ education summit snubbed by Taliban

TDT | Manama
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, attended a global summit on the education of Muslim girls in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Monday. The two-day conference, supported by the Muslim World League and education officials from numerous Muslim-majority countries, was notably absent of representatives from Afghanistan due to the Taliban's refusal to participate.

In her address, Yousafzai emphasized the importance of girls' education, particularly in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has banned girls from attending school. "No one from the Afghan government was at the conference, but the message is clear: education for girls is a fundamental right," she stated.

Muhammad al-Issa, a Saudi cleric and secretary general of the Muslim World League, which has supported the summit, reinforced the message, saying, "Those who claim that girls' education is un-Islamic are wrong. Islam advocates for education for all."

Roza Otunbayeva, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), urged leaders of Islamic nations to support Afghan girls' education. "The entire Muslim world, including Pakistan, faces challenges in ensuring equal access to education for girls," said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the summit's opening.

Pakistan’s Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui confirmed that Islamabad had extended an invitation to the Afghan government to attend the summit, calling for global efforts to ensure education access for girls. "This is the task of the day, to offer education, scholarships, and online learning opportunities for all girls," he told a panel.

The summit, although lacking Afghanistan’s presence, reinforced the call for worldwide support in overcoming the obstacles to girls' education in regions where such rights are restricted.