Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl who suffered an assassination attempt by Taliban forces because of her activism for girls education returned to Pakistan Thursday.
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“Today is the happiest day of my life, because I have returned to my country; I have stepped foot on my nation’s soil again and am among my own people,” she said in a televised national address.
Malala left Pakistan after being attack by Taliban forces. When she was 15 years old, Malala was shot in the head but the bullet only grazed her brain and lodged in her neck. She was airlifted out of her hometown in the Swat valley and taken to the United Kingdom, where doctors were able to dislodge the bullet and reconstruct her skull. Two years after surviving the attack she became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Malala continued her advocacy for girls’ right to education and empowerment from an international platform.
Upon arriving in Islamabad Malala, who is now 20 years old, met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi before giving her speech on national television. Abassi expressed his joy for Malala’s return saying he was “so happy that our child who has earned so much fame internationally has come home.”
In her speech, she emphasized the importance of women empowerment for national development. “For the betterment of Pakistan, it is necessary to educate girls and empower women,” she said. Her foundation, the Malala Fund, has invested US$6 million in girls’ education in Pakistan.
Malala began her activism as an 11-year-old girl who resisted Taliban prohibition against girl schools. Today she studies at Oxford University while continuing to advocate and promote access to education for girls around the world.