Inspirational young survivor fights for education

The Taliban shot 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai in the head for her education activism. But she survived, helped win education for all girls in Pakistan, and will address the UN in 3 days asking leaders to agree to put every child on the planet in school, a shockingly achievable goal. Avaaz proposes we stand with her, and call for education for all.

The young women were heading home from college in Pakistan when the Taliban firebombed their school bus, burning 14 of them alive. The survivors were rushed to the hospital, where another bomb went off, injuring their friends and the nurses who came to help.

Sometimes out of the deepest darkness come our brightest lights. In the face of this horror, 15-year-old Malala has dared to campaign for girls education in Pakistan. She was shot in the head for it last year, but she survived, and with almost 1 million of us behind her, she helped win a new government policy to put all Pakistani girls in school!

Education for all

But she’s not stopping there. On Friday, Malala will speak at the UN to propose a new global goal: to put every child on the planet in school. Her request is shockingly doable – with experts saying it would cost the same as just two nuclear power plants! In the next 72 hours, let’s help Avaaz show world leaders that Malala has millions of us behind her as she appeals to them to act, and turn Taliban horror into powerful new hope – education for all:

• Sign the petition here.

Malala will present the campaign to the UN Secretary General on Friday, and work with an army of youth delegates around the globe to lobby the UN Security Council to pass a resolution recognizing the global education crisis and listing concrete steps to promote education for all. Then the Avaaz community will help them take the message to capitals around the world, until governments write cheques and change policies.

Here are the top lines from the plan:

• guarantee equality for girls and marginalized youth disproportionately denied education
• provide rigorous training for teachers
• increase education funding with higher aid from donors and all countries better targeting their spending to close the gaps and guarantee every child has at least 9 years education

Getting every child into school may sound ambitious, but it’s actually entirely achievable with a moderate increase in international financial support of $26 billion, and will yield massive benefits for the future peace and prosperity of our world. Let’s seize this moment and momentum, and make it happen.

When Malala was shot, the Avaaz community rallied to her support and helped build an effective strategy to advance her cause, working closely with the UN Envoy on Education, Gordon Brown, to press the Pakistani government to announce a stipend programme to get all kids into school. Help them do it again now, and make the Malala magic work across the world.

With hope and determination,

Mia, Diego, Ricken, Alex, Anne, Dalia, Pascal, Wen-Hua and the entire Avaaz team

More info:

• Reductions in Aid Jeopardise Schooling for Millions of Children (Huffington post)
• Drop in aid for primary schools puts education MDG at risk (The Guardian)
• Poorly-educated worst off in economic crisis (EU observer)
• Malala’s global voice stronger than ever (CNN)
• Education For All Global Monitoring Report (UNESCO)
• The Youth Resolution: The Education We Want (World We Want)
• Gordon Brown: Malala’s Fight for Girls’ Education in Pakistan Continues (The Daily Beast)

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