Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai will travel to Pakistan at the weekend to attend the international conference on girls’ education in Muslim communities, officials said here on Wednesday.
Malala will be one of the keynote speakers at the two-day conference scheduled for January 11-12 in Islamabad.
This will be Malala’s only third visit to Pakistan since she was flown to Britain for life-saving treatment in October 2012. She visited Pakistan in October 2022 to travel to her hometown for the first time since was attacked.
Malala was just 15 years old when the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) shot her in the head for her campaign for girls’ education.
One of the conference organizers told The Express PAkGazette that Malala confirmed her participation in the conference and would deliver a keynote speech, highlighting the importance of girls’ education in Muslim communities.
The Federal Ministry of Education and Vocational Training will host the International Conference on “Education of Girls in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities”.
A statement issued here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the global summit aims to address challenges and opportunities in advancing girls’ education in Muslim communities around the world; encourage dialogue; and find viable solutions to address the challenges. The conference will provide an ideal platform for high-level discussions and collaborations.
The event will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, who will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session and reaffirm the nation’s commitment to promoting girls’ education and gender equality.
The event will bring together more than 150 international dignitaries, including ministers, ambassadors, scholars and scholars from 44 Muslim and friendly countries, representatives of international organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF and the World Bank. Speakers and panelists will share transformative success stories, showcasing innovative approaches to advancing educational equity.
The conference will conclude with a formal signing ceremony of the Islamabad Declaration, which outlines the Muslim community’s shared commitment to empowering girls through education, paving the way for inclusive and sustainable education reforms and a brighter future for the coming generations.
One of the agendas of the conference is to discuss the current ban on girls’ education by the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Although there is no explicit reference to the Afghan situation, sources said the joint statement would certainly reject the Taliban ban on girls’ education.
Sources said Pakistan extended an invitation to the Afghan Taliban government for the conference. However, there is no confirmation whether they will send a delegation.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense over the past few months due to terrorist hideouts inside Afghanistan.
