Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai to visit Pakistan for girls' summit

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai will attend an international summit on girls' education hosted by her native Pakistan, where she was nearly killed by militants as a schoolgirl.

Yousafzai was evacuated from the country in 2012 after being shot by the Pakistan Taliban, who were enraged by her activism, and she has returned to the country only a handful of times since.

A spokesperson for the Malala Fund charity confirmed Yousafzai will appear in person at the summit, which will focus on education in Islamic nations.

"I am excited to join Muslim leaders from around the world for a critical conference on girls' education," she said Friday in a post on X.

"On Sunday, I will speak about protecting rights for all girls to go to school, and why leaders must hold the Taliban accountable for their crimes against Afghan women & girls."

Pakistan's education minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said the Taliban government have been invited to attend, however officials from the neighboring country have not responded to AFP requests for comment.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are banned from going to school and university.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban government has imposed an austere version of Islamic law which the United Nations has called "gender apartheid".

Afghan women chant slogans in protest against the closure of universities to women by the Taliban in Kabul, Dec. 22, 2022. Reuters

Girls are only allowed to attend primary school, while women are largely restricted to working in segregated environments in health or education.

The Taliban administration claims that Islamic law "guarantees" the rights of Afghan men and women.

The two-day summit backed by the Saudi Arabia-based Muslim World League will be held in Pakistan's capital Islamabad on Saturday and Sunday and opened by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

It brings together ministers, ambassadors and religious scholars from 44 countries, as well as representatives from the UN and World Bank.

Tens of millions of girls are out of school in Muslim-majority countries, including Bangladesh and Nigeria.

Pakistan is facing a severe education crisis with over 26 million children out of school, mostly as a result of poverty, according to official government figures -- one of the highest rates in the world.

The summit will confirm "the shared commitment of (the) Muslim community to empower girls through education", according to a government statement.

Yousafzai became a household name when she was attacked by Pakistan Taliban militants on a school bus in the remote Swat valley.

At the time, militancy was widespread in the region as the war between the Afghan Taliban and NATO forces raged across the border in Afghanistan.

The Pakistan and Afghan Taliban are separate groups but share close links and similar ideologies, including a strong disbelief in educating girls.

Yousafzai was evacuated to the United Kingdom and went on to become a global advocate for girls' education and the youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner at the age of 17.