Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai urged President Obama to act to aid Afghan girls returning to school in wake of Taliban takeover. She met with Antony Blinken, Secretary of State.
Malala (24 years old), was assassinated by the Pakistani Taliban nine-years ago. She survived and said that she came to speak about equality in education.
“But, we know that Afghanistan at the moment is not the country where girls have access to secondary school,” she stated.
‘They are prohibited from learning, and I have been working together with Afghan girls and women’s activists, and there is this one message from them: that they should be given the right to work.
They should be able go to school.
Since the Taliban took control in August and the U.S. troops left, activists have raised alarms about the erosion of rights.
Malala Yousafzai, an education campaigner, urged President Obama to help more girls in Afghanistan get to school when she met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Taliban gunmen seen at Kabul, where Islamist Movement has held control since August. The Taliban have forbidden girls from grades 7-12 to go back to school.
On Friday, the Islamist group issued a ‘special decree’ outlining women’s rights under their rule.
It stated that ‘A woman does not have to be a property. She is a free and noble human being. No one can take her away in return for peace or end of animosity.
It did not mention getting an education, or finding a job.
While the Taliban allowed girls younger than 12 to go back to school, it is believed that grades 7-12 will only be permitted to come back if classes are conducted in an Islamic manner.
The students claim that special transport is required to get them to school, and they can’t be taught by men teachers.
Government jobs have been denied to women.
Malala read from the letter that Sotodah, an Afghan girl of 15 years, wrote to President Joe Biden prior to the U.S. State Department meeting.
She said that “the longer universities and schools remain closed to women, the greater it will obscure hope for our future phases.”
‘Girls’ education is a powerful tool for bringing peace and security. If girls don’t learn, Afghanistan will suffer, too.
“As a female and human being, you need to understand that I have rights. Both girls and women have the right to equal rights.
“Afghans can live in peace and go to school. They also have the right of playing.
Biden Administration finds itself in a difficult situation. The administration has left Afghanistan and must now figure out how to provide aid in a poor country while keeping the Taliban away.
As bitter winter draws near, aid agencies warn of hunger.
Malala revealed that she was married to Asser Malik, Pakistani cricket executive. The intimate ceremony took place at Malala’s Birmingham home.
Blinken, for his part said that he looked forward to Malala’s thoughts.
‘As I think many, many people know, Malala is truly an inspiration – an inspiration to us, an inspiration to girls and women around the world – but not just an inspiration; someone who by her work, by her efforts, is making a real difference, particularly when it comes to access to education for girls and women, which is a critical issue for President Biden and the United States as well,’ he said.
Malala, a teenager education activist, was captured by the Pakistani Taliban.
She was shot in the head by them after they stopped her school bus.
Two years later, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Last month, Malala stunned her legions of supporters around the world when she announced that she had married Pakistani cricket executive Asser Malik, 31, at her Birmingham home.
The couple chose to go on honeymoon instead and spend the first days together watching cricket on the couch.