Malala Urges Global Action Against Taliban's 'Apartheid Against Women'
Malala Urges Global Action Against Taliban’s ‘Apartheid Against Women’
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai has urged the global community to address the urgent issue of girls’ education, highlighting the essential contribution educated women make to developing a prosperous society.
“It is important to acknowledge the challenges we face, a crisis that is hindering our economy by hundreds of billions in lost potential, a crisis that is detrimental to the health, safety, and security of our population,” Malala stated during her remarks on the second day of the “International Conference on Girls’ Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities” held on Sunday. The two-day event took place in the federal capital, and global experts and educators were gathered to discuss the challenges related to girls’ education in Muslim nations. According to government statistics, Pakistan is experiencing a significant education crisis, with over 22 million children not attending school, ranking as one of the highest figures worldwide. Malala emphasized that “if this crisis is not addressed, our society will not flourish as it ought to.”
“We would fail to uphold the essential principles of Islam, which emphasize the pursuit of knowledge.” She remarked that this conference represents a positive initial step, adding, “However, we can only engage in an honest and serious dialogue about girls’ education if we acknowledge the most severe violations of it.” The Afghan Taliban government’s absence was noticeable at the event. Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told AFP that although an invitation had been sent from Islamabad to Kabul, “no one from the Afghan government attended the conference.” Since regaining control in 2021, the Afghan Taliban has enforced a strict interpretation of religious law that the United Nations has labeled as “gender apartheid.”
Their restrictions have barred women and girls from accessing secondary schools and higher education, limited their employment in government positions, and removed them from various areas of public life. Muhammad Al Issa, a cleric from Saudi Arabia and secretary general of the Muslim World League, which has supported the summit, stated that “religion should not be an excuse for preventing girls from receiving an education.” At the same time, Pakistan is grappling with its acute education crisis, with over 22 million children out of school, based on government statistics, making it one of the highest rates in the world.
‘Entire generation of girls deprived of their future’
Malala stated that girls in various Muslim nations, such as Yemen and Sudan, are enduring challenging situations, including poverty, violence, and forced marriages. “In Afghanistan, a whole generation of girls has been deprived of their future. This conference will fail to fulfill its objective if we don’t address the education of Afghan girls,” she remarked, further noting, “The only country in the world where girls are entirely prevented from receiving an education is under Taliban rule.” Malala was attacked by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in 2012 when she was a student, as she campaigned for the right to female education. At that time, militancy was rampant in the area, coinciding with the conflict between the Afghan Taliban and NATO forces across the border in Afghanistan. Following her attack, Malala was taken to the United Kingdom, where she became a prominent advocate for girls’ education and, at 17, the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Her dedication to activism earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, and she has since emerged as a worldwide champion for the educational rights of women and girls.
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