Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani human rights activist for girls’ education, urged Muslim leaders on Sunday to support her efforts to have gender apartheid, or discrimination and oppression of girls and women based on their sex, recognized as a crime under international law. She also appealed to them to speak out against the Taliban government in Afghanistan and its treatment of women and girls.
Yousafzai made her appeals at a two-day summit in Islamabad, which was attended by international leaders, scholars, and ministers from over 50 countries. She singled out the Afghan Taliban, calling on them to respect the basic rights of all Afghans, including equal access to education for girls. The Taliban prohibit teenage girls from attending school, and women are barred from most universities.
Calling on Muslim leaders to use their voices and positions of power, Yousafzai accused the Taliban of denying an entire generation of Afghan girls their right to an education. She praised the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which co-sponsored the summit along with the Muslim World League, for its work to promote the rights of Muslim women and girls.
Yousafzai, who is a survivor of a Taliban-directed assassination attempt and has been widely recognized for her advocacy on the importance of education for girls and women, criticized the Taliban government for its suppression of women and girls. Afghanistan’s neighbors and the international community have not officially recognized the new government, partly due to their concerns about gender rights.
Many of the invited leaders and experts at the Islamabad summit were previously unknown to outsiders, but representatives from over two dozen countries showed up to emphasize the importance of girls’ education in Muslim cultures.