An optimistic look at the future of girls education Malala Yousafzai
I am honored to be here and I really
want to thank everyone for giving your
time today
I’m sure things are not as you expect it
right now we are going through a
pandemic globally so I really thank you
for your patience and I really want to
thank Whitney and Ted for giving me this
opportunity to speak today I would like
to apologize in advance if there is any
noise in my house because I have two
little brothers and I have told them to
keep quiet right you know it’s out of my
control in the past three months I have
been in university I have
well technically university but I’ve
been studying at home and I left for my
Easter break and I did not expect that I
would be stuck at home for the rest of
my few months that were left in
University and I had to take my exams at
home I had to graduate at home and now I
am unemployed looking for jobs at home
so life has been or limited to home in
the past few months I’m sure it’s the
same for most of you out there and but
I’m really happy and really you know
just so excited overwhelmed that I have
graduated from Oxford I finished my
undergraduate in philosophy politics and
economics and the past three years have
been incredible I have grown so much I
have learned so much from my friends
tutors and professors and and everything
that I that I saw there now we are you
know in a in in 2020 which is probably
one of the most uncertain years that we
have experienced sort of in our time and
we are halfway through it and you know I
have looked into a lot of research and
and I’m hearing and I’m listening to
different people and what is clear is
that things may not be the same as they
were before but I think it’s very
important that we stay hopeful because
it is an opportunity for change and off
change and I’m hopeful that we
especially the younger generation will
make things better we are more aware
of what are the social issues that we
are facing from racial discrimination to
sexism to even you know poverty in an
inequality and discrimination in other
ways as well so there’s a lot for us to
fix and I’m very positive that this
generation will be more responsible and
they will make a better world for
everyone tomorrow I’m mala thank you so
much for being with us thank you for
that address thank you it means insolent
and you know first and foremost
congratulations on on your graduation
that is amazing you recently tweeted
that there will be lots of sleeping
reading and Netflix in your future and
so you know how does it feel to be
finished with college and what have you
been up to these past couple weeks so to
be honest my exams were really long
there were a month long exams and I was
just exhausted
I needed a long long break so over the
past two days I have just messed up my
sleeping schedule and for a lot of
people can do that and I right now I am
allowing myself I’m just saying that
okay you are allowed to do this for a
bit because you need a bit of rest in a
bit of break so so far it’s spending
time with family just I connected all my
luggage from my University so bringing
all my belongings resetting my room
because it’s still still looked like a
high school girls room and I was like I
am a graduate now I need my room setting
to feel a bit older you know to see that
transforming around me as well as much
as I see it within me and it has just
been great it has been tiring as well
but also it’s been great to spend time
with family that’s great well I’m glad
to hear that you’re actually making good
on that tweet to take some time to rest
and revive after it sounds like it’s
been a very busy in past few years well
you know so of course it’s one of the
world’s most famous advocates for girls
education this is obviously a really
huge accomplishment you know to finish
college and I’m curious just how this
has influenced you as an activist
especially thinking about the fact that
you had to head to the west and leave
Pakistan to acquire your education you
know what how is this influenced your
work it was always my dream to go and
study in Oxford and I am just really
honored that I got the opportunity to
study in the UK and then apply to the
University that I always aspired to be
in I think this is quite overwhelming
because a life that I had expected was
that I would continue my secondary
schooling in Pakistan that I’ll apply
from there and just as any other student
in Pakistan will do but you know things
all everything changed in 2012 when I
was attacked and I had to move to the UK
for my treatment for my surgeries and
since then I have been getting my
education in the UK I’ve been
campaigning for other girls education as
well because I realize that education is
empowering and there are 130 million
girls who do not have access to it and
those are girls like me once I was in
their place and I did not have access to
school and I wanted somebody to speak
out for me and today those girls need
voices so I am out there speaking for
them and also hoping that these girls
have a platform where they can raise
their own voices
what a pond I mean as you were juggling
your studies with your work how has your
work with the mala Fonda and all of your
activism evolved in the time since
you’ve been at university so when
Oliphant started like probably five six
years ago and to be honest I I had so
much energy when I was like 15 16 I was
just traveling all around the world I
was in refugee camps I was in Nigeria I
was speaking out for the girls were
abducted by Boko Haram I went to Iraq as
well and I have been to Brazil as well
serving sort of traveling around the
world because I want to meet the girls
and allow them to raise their voices
provide them a platform where they can
speak out about the issues that they’re
facing at work then local leaders
national leaders and global leaders need
to do and so in terms of that it was
quite
a lot for me because I was still a
school student and I would travel and
give a speech somewhere and then the
next day I would have a class and out of
homework to finish I would stay up all
night like finish my work in university
if I’m honest I did not put too much
academic pressure on myself I allowed
myself to have fun as well which I’m
glad I did I think I needed that to just
spend more time with friends and just
sort of be you know like other students
and not put too much academic pressure
on myself just to say like I was kind of
lazy and I allowed it which was good but
at the same time I would my vacation
time and my Easter holiday my Christmas
holiday to the activism that I do that’s
wonderful I mean I think for a lot of
people I definitely can imagine it it
must be hard to live than the life of a
normal college student as someone who is
as famous and renowned as you are and so
that’s incredible to hear that you were
able to sort of find that balance and
experience College in the way that the
average person does all really happy I
wouldn’t want me and they just treated
me as as a student as their friend and
that was just very helpful and I and
actually like sort of found that younger
side of myself I was always surrounded
by much older people and there was a lot
to learn from that but this was the
first time that I was engaging with
people of my age that’s great well you
know I’d love to talk a little bit about
your work and how it’s connected to this
moment and thinking about education for
girls you know communities around the
world have been devastated by the corona
virus pandemic in so many different ways
and could you talk a little bit to how
this global health crisis has impacted
girls access to education specifically
100% like over 19 is affecting people
globally and that include young girls as
well and Malala found we did a research
and looking into like previous cases
like Ebola and the research shows that
there are more than 10 million
who are at risk of losing their
education these are girls who currently
would drop out of their schools and may
never be able to return to their schools
either because of early marriages
because of those cultural barriers that
they face our parents are more likely to
prefer early marriage for them than
their education but also a lot of them
would be needed into workforce because
they will be a financial option for the
family and them would have no choice but
to send their daughters to and for them
and these are the girls who are really
vulnerable to being trapped in that and
they may never be able to return to
school and this is what happened in the
in the case of Ebola as well there were
many girls who did not return to their
schools and there is a risk that the
same might happen to girls in this
crisis as well and you know I think that
some people might make the argument when
you’re thinking about what’s happening
with the pandemic that we should really
be focusing our energy on building back
the economy and our public health
systems and thinking about how to find a
vaccine and that in this moment it could
be really easy for the issues for which
you advocate to get pushed to the side
so you know could you talk a little bit
about why you think it’s so important in
this moment that we keep the focus on
girls education you keep it central to
this conversations hundred percent I
think we should not forget about
investing in girls investing in women
and their empowerment they are sort of
the key the key players in in running
countries and running our economies and
it’s quite easy to forget about that in
to ignore it but I think it’s time that
we push governments and all the
responsible authorities to not forget
girls when they make policies when they
make decisions about future I think one
thing that is really at risk is
financing for education that has been
stagnated for the past years and all the
risk that that could go down further
that could go into negative so we don’t
want that I really hope that governments
stay committed to financing girls
education and this sort of remain gender
sensitive in that and ensure that
there’s equal investment in girls
education and especially their secondary
education I think
second thing would be sort of safety and
health a lot of parents might be
concerned about their children’s health
especially others health when they send
their daughters to school and I think
that’s something that the policymakers
need to look into that one other issue
that is the teen pregnancies in such
situations current pandemic the number
of teenage pregnancies will increase and
then the risk is that when these girls
return to school you know in many
countries in many local schools may not
allow them to return to schools so it’s
important that those sort of those norms
are challenged and even if because these
teenage pregnancies or have become
mothers at teenage that they are allowed
to get back into their education and
finally we need data we need to go in to
go and research how sort of and also
ensure that this is gender disaggregated
and it’s important that governments sort
of take responsibility for that I know
everybody would be pushing them and and
I I see the risk of it being getting
ignored there are other issues as well
that might be hard as well
so it’s time that all the champions or
the campaigners of girls education of
education in general of women’s rights
they come together and and bring our
voices together so they sort of grow
louder and when governments make
policies that our voices and our
concerns are heard you know and as you
were talking through this I I it really
strikes me that in this moment you know
a lot of the work that you’re doing you
often think about girls in developing
countries and and how access to
education is is limited in some spaces
in the world and and I think even right
now in wealthier nations you’re seeing
too that there are lots of girls who are
also not having the same access to
school that they might have had before
the pandemic started so I think it’s
really interesting to think about how
all the things you’ve just mentioned
apply to every corner of the world right
now
and you know I know our communities
watching and they have
lots of questions that I’m sure they’d
love to ask maybe we can get to a few of
those questions and seeing what others
have to have to ask you mala so we have
a question here from Laura you mentioned
that you’re now seeking employment what
is your dream job uh to be honest there
are many when I was probably 7 or 8 I
wanted to be a car mechanic because I
just thought it looks cool but right now
I think I am up for anything from
working at a farm consultancy working
with young people especially I really
like to see young you know the companies
that young generation are building that
are about a sustainable future so would
love that
and are also very much like to take a
break as well and travel but Open Utley
because of the pandemic that option is
is not as I expected it to be it’s quite
limited and restricted right now let’s
see what other questions we have ad asks
do you feel pressure as an activist and
how do you balance that with pursuing
other passions you have well I thank you
Eddie
I think there is pressure as an activist
but it is more so from me there is
outside as well but when I started
receiving support globally and I was
receiving letters and cards and from all
across the world and even now like
people are sending with beautiful notes
and it’s in thousand that I would not
never be able to respond to all of them
so when you see that global support when
you are at your most difficult time you
have that responsibility to to sort of
return or pay back and for me paying
back is to continue working for
education and I have remained committed
to that and and as I mentioned earlier
when I was out of school I wanted
somebody to speak out from me so I keep
on thinking about that moment there are
many girls right now who are asking the
same question they’re asking all of us
what are we doing if we were in their
place what would we have done so that’s
why
think about that revenue Malala and I
keep on fighting let’s take one more
question right now so from prasanta as
so many young girls are forced into
caretaker roles through this pandemic
with parents forced to work or have
Kovan 19 what’s the path forward to help
close the gap this generation is having
in their education oh I think one way in
which we can challenge gender-based
norms is by showing role models and
examples to people I think that has a
huge huge impact when we are growing up
when we are you know looking at text
work when we are looking at television
what we are hearing from our parents for
that young child for that young girl all
of those things are impacting her it’s
important that we look at our curriculum
that we look at what we are showing on
televisions and in other you know now we
have internet in those shows taught to
our children and what are we setting is
sort of the limit for girls if girls are
told to be limited to you know playing
with Barbie dolls then that’s what they
might have in their mind so it’s
important that we show them that they
can be scientists teachers politicians
prime ministers presidents they can do
anything and and it’s important that we
show them they’re role models that we
introduced him to they’re role models
and and I in the female the women
leaders that I know if they have truly
inspired me to believe that yes women
can have their voice on global platforms
they can be in those positions of
policymaking of those of change making
they can be presidents prime ministers
and they can run the world they can run
countries so I think when you see role
models that really has a huge huge
impact on you and I’m sure for many
people you are also one of those role
models but I’m curious you mentioned
that when you see role models of your
own you know who are some of those those
people who you look up to and who
inspire you um when we all mentioned
Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela’s
in there were fighters for equality and
against racism and right now they need
to be mentioned more than more than ever
for what is going on around the world
especially to do with black lives
so I think is to say that their fight is
not over yet but also especially
benazir bhutto who was the first female
prime minister of pakistan and also in
the whole Muslim countries so she was a
role model too to me and to many young
girls to believe that they can become
leaders of their country and in many
more especially when I meet young girls
I have met many girls in including in
refugee camps one was Nigella and she
was she’s a Yazidi refugee in in a camp
in Iraq in the smile on her face and the
hope in her eyes inspired me to believe
that there is future this future can be
improved we can make it better for
everyone because this girl in a refugee
camp she’s not giving up on her life
she’s passionate she is carrying a
dictionary she wants to learn new things
she she wants to learn one new word
every day and she’s passionate about
changing the world so that sort of gives
you hope so all these young girls that I
meet they’re also my role models you
know I’d love to talk a little bit also
about just the current state of girls
education so you know there’s data from
UNESCO that shows that girls in the
world’s least developed nations went
from spending less than three years in
school on average in 1970 to almost nine
years in school in 2017 and this growth
definitely in murals in comparison to
what we see in wealthier nations where
the average amount of time girls spend
in school is 17 years but it definitely
seems when you think about that and look
at those numbers that the situation has
been improving and so when you think
about your experience as a little girl
in Pakistan and compare that with some
of the of the things that you’re seeing
now through your work some of the girls
who you’ve just mentioned now do you
think that things are getting better
still are you seeing that there are
greater opportunities for girls around
the world today there are different ways
in which you can look at that firstly in
terms of passion of girls and girls
activism and seeing young leaders among
girls who want to become that change
makers yes 100 percent there is hope
there’s optimism in terms of the work
that local activists - there could be
young girls they
we you know men and women who are
passionate about bringing education into
their communities they could be working
in the most deprived the most
marginalized rural areas from Pakistan
to Nigeria to Brazil to in all these
countries and looking at their activism
with limited resources and with so much
hard work and with so many difficulties
that is truly inspiring and that gives
you hope that with this passion yes we
will see change but then when you look
at the government level and the in sort
of that global level in terms of where
resources are and how much is missing
how much is lacking in that that is
something that really concerns me and I
hope that while leaders make a you know
good commitments towards education they
make commitments towards financing the
secondary education of girls the quality
education of girls safe education of
girls but also fulfill those commitments
sometimes they make commitments but they
always you know they hardly fulfill that
so it’s important that we keep on some
leaders to to stick to what they have
committed and I’d have to talk about
that more just how we can keep leaders
accountable and how we can ensure that
they stay committed to this you know one
of the UN sustainable development goals
actually to one is focused on quality
education for all and then women’s
equality that you know the UN hopes that
we would achieve this by 2030
which is now just ten years away and I’m
curious how you think we we can actually
do the work of making that happen how
can we as individuals hold government’s
accountable what sort of things would
you like to see from governments to to
show that they really are making strides
towards seeing this happen mm-hmm so I
think there are many ways that an
individual can help whether that is sign
writing a letter to your MP to promoting
it and spreading that message on social
media you know tagging them writing a
letter to them engaging in in
campaigning that is going on for girls
education but another way which I truly
believe in is the
we need to support local activists local
educators and that is the mission that
Malala fund has been working on over the
past few years we started this Malala
for an education activist Network and we
are supporting more than 60 activists
around the world in more than seven or
eight countries and they’re also
currently changing their work according
to what how kovat has changed things for
them and for instance in Nigeria or
activists are using radio to give
lessons and engaging education related
content to children because that’s sort
of the means that works there but on the
other hand in Pakistan the champions are
working on using apps but also national
television because that’s something that
people engage with the most so I think
it’s working with the local community
that’s really important and in that you
can support Malala font or other
organizations who are focusing on that
so I think it’s really important that we
support these amazing and incredible
activists who are out of there you know
my father and I started as local
activists in Swat Valley so I understand
what it means when you give even sort of
little support to a local activist it it
impacts their work hugely and it helps
them in so many ways to improve their
work and reach out to many more girls so
that’s that’s one way to help it’s great
and I mean you started to list some
examples there you know that you’ve seen
in Pakistan in other parts of the world
things that people are doing and are
there other but are nations that you
look to and think you know wow they’ve
really they’ve really figured this out
they’re really getting it right in this
in this way and and that you think
nations can look to as models for how to
implement some of these strategies for
for girls in their own countries well I
think in terms of like what is the ideal
sort of model for girls education I
don’t think there is consensus on that
yet but you know in in the in European
countries especially you know in the in
the northern Europe those countries are
sort of considered to be role models and
in their education sort of is that
quality education that many educators
aspire for every kids
to have for every child to have in terms
of like the country that we are working
in when either the number of girls who
are out of school is the highest so that
countries include Pakistan Nigeria India
and many more and then the list goes on
in terms of those countries activism has
been quite difficult when these
activists from what policy level changes
they face a lot of difficulties when
they’re pushing governments to change
their policies and it sometimes take
many many years to see any change so
it’s you know we are pushing them we’re
pushing them and supporting them in
their advocacy work in terms of you know
there have it depends on the area where
like you know in in Lebanon they are
using these small electronic devices
called obscura which has all the
educational content that that those
children need for that age and you know
it does not require that much
electricity it can be connected to
multiple computers and they’re very
helpful in refugee camps and they’re
using it for Syrian refugee girls and
they’re also trying to promote it on on
the sort of country level in Lebanon as
well so the it sort of varies across
countries and where we are working you
know in the one hand it is a digital
device on the other hand it’s a radio
then another country it’s it’s an
airport it’s the local it’s the national
television so I think it’s really and I
think that’s sort of the bottom-up
approach that we we might need because
there isn’t there’s not that sort of one
fixed solution if you I don’t know iPads
to the north of Nigeria and if there is
lack of electricity and Internet that
might not work so it’s important that
you engage with the local at the local
activists and sort of find what is best
for that area
I really don’t sort of tailor this to
your own your own community it sounds
like well we have tons and tons of
questions coming in from our community
so why we take a couple of those right
now so Trevor
as a mail University professor what can
others like me in society as a whole
offer to support your passion how can we
be the best allies for you uh one way is
to go on Malala funds website lala dot
org and there are many ways outlined
there you can become you know you can
donate you can become a supporter you
can sign up through your email and you
can engage on our platform called
assembly assembly is a platform where
young girls share their stories and I
remember when I was blogging as an 11
year old girl sharing my story of what
my life was like under the Taliban and a
lot of people read it a lot of people
listen to it they supported me so there
are so many stories out there when you
know girls will truly inspire you and
you know when you see their commitment
their passion and their hard work it’s
just incredible so I would really
encourage everyone to check out assembly
on Malala fund and you know there are
also other ways as well in which you can
engage it just requires a bit of you
know 5-10 minutes your laptop Google in
a bit of research and I’m sure we all
can find ways how to help and Shaheen II
asks how do you give boys and men to buy
into the importance of empowering girls
and women um when my father has sort of
been an advocate in that he he always
shares his story of how he was
celebrating the birth of his daughter
while you know his relatives and
everyone else was telling my mom that
next time hopefully she will have a son
when I was born so my always celebrated
you know me as his daughter and he was
passionate about girls education
so when you have men role models who are
you know openly and vocally feminist who
not just verbally tell people that women
are equal to men but they practically
show it I think that’s the men we need
who will say that they are giving equal
opportunities to their daughters they
will allow them to do any job they will
allow them to have access to the same
Unity’s as boys have they will support
them they will stand by them when women
are facing any issue that so I think
it’s support it’s standing by it’s there
there’s so many ways in which men can
help and they’re very much needed
because you know some when we talk of on
sort of that bigger scale that’s where
the problem lies so when we talk about
the decisions that are made in a room
you know if in mostly these when these
decisions are about women what you see
that there are men sitting on that table
and there’s lack of women’s
representation there’s sometimes there’s
sometimes no woman on that table so it’s
important that we provide room for women
to be on those tables where decision
decisions about their future about their
body are made so women’s presence
women’s voices are very much needed and
I hope that men and boys need to sort of
stand up for that and and sort of defend
women’s equality and I know for you
personally your father who was a TED
speaker was was a role model for you and
sort of mirrored and was somebody who
stood up for you and gave you that womb
so that’s great to hear from your
personal experiences as well okay so
patrick asks the pandemic carries a risk
that authoritarian governments will use
it as an excuse to hold back progress in
girls education how might we prevent
that from happening you’re very light
metric and as I mentioned earlier I
think pushing government’s whether you
know if it’s in your own country we
could write them letters we could we
could do campaigning we could do it on
social media but there is a huge risk
and it’s not just you know authoritarian
governments in you know even in
democratic governments there is the risk
of losing support for you know
investment in girls education so I think
it’s important that we remind our
leaders from our local leaders to our
national leaders that they invest in
girls education and I have you know been
writing letters to different presidents
and
prime ministers and and asking them and
urging them that does will be impacted
because of what is happening and that
their support is very much needed right
now and that they should continue
supporting those education and there
should not stop that so there there are
many ways you know sometimes I myself
think what can I do anything there’s you
know from writing letters to doing a
campaign on social media all these
things can be effective let’s take
another question here we have one from
Miriam I understand that the number of
girls attending school has improved
greatly that the quality of that
education is often sorely lacking what
are your thoughts on the best ways to
improve the quality of education once
the girls are able to be in school I
hundred percent agree you know when we
talk about the girls out of school that
number is in millions but the girls who
are in schooling are not learning that
number is also in millions and that is
concerning because you know in in future
there would be more than you know sort
of billion girls who would not be ready
to participate in the task for
requirements that are needed at that
time and it was one of the studies that
Malala fund conducted it showed us so
there is that concern that if girls do
not receive quality education they’re
not receiving education about technology
that they might need in future they will
not be ready to sort of participate in
the economy and also I personally think
that we need gender sensitive curriculum
we need awareness about you know
sexuality we need awareness about
personal protection and I think this is
very much needed for for especially for
young girls and in regarding that you
know it has been one of the top
priorities of Malala fund to keep on
promoting quality education so there
like three things that Malala from focus
is on one is financing for education
there’s a huge gap in that and that’s
what we have been pushing for the second
is quality of education and with that we
are working with local activists as well
how it can be improved but I think sort
of looking into technology and then you
know making gender sensitive those are
sort of the key thing that we have been
focusing on
and the last is challenging social norms
that prevent girls from going to school
so that also requires that local
activism that can become a voice in sort
of changing the social in that
perspective among local communities this
sort of so much that needs to be done
but 100 percent agree the quality of
education is so so important let’s take
one more question and then we’ll take
that or I can come back and so do you
have plans to go back to Pakistan how
much of your future advocacy do you plan
to focus in in your home country so
advocacy has been focused in Pakistan we
have been doing projects there and you
know the village that my father comes
from Shanghai and both my parents are
from that village and there was no
secondary school for girls and when I
you know started activism and then I was
receiving the Nobel Peace Prize and at
that time I felt like I need to start
from my home country and I need to start
from that village where my parents of
growing up and there was no sort of
secondary school for girls
so I Derek I you know donated that money
towards that project and so in Pakistan
we have been working on their school and
now girls are studying in that school
sort of the first secondary school in
that village and everybody is just so so
excited and all the guys are so so
excited to be in that school and I also
heard one time that they were given sort
of their break and a lot of girls just
complained that they don’t want breaks
and they just want to be in school
because it has provided them that safety
that and that opportunity to you know be
creative and have that time with their
friends that they may not be able to get
otherwise so that have that has been our
work in Pakistan we want to do even more
and we’re you know caning or or advocacy
for the next few years I definitely want
to go to Pakistan and that is my home
country and and I love where I’m from
Swat Valley and it’s one of the most
beautiful places I’ve ever seen we are
surrounded by these tall mountains and
these beautiful rivers so it’s it’s
really a heaven on earth so
and I realized that when I came to the
UK the UK is pretty mobile city where I
live in Birmingham it is also very nice
city but I was looking for mountains and
I didn’t see any and I was like wow
surprising that this was a very unique
thing about where about my home town so
hopefully whenever this pandemic
restrictions are uplifted and whenever
things are back normal
I would love to go back to Pakistan and
the way you’ve described it I would love
to see Swat Valley it sounds absolutely
gorgeous I hope you do make it back
there um you know I wanted to talk also
about just activism and and you’ve
mentioned a little bit you know the just
thinking about how important it is to
have youth voices and obviously you have
been a youth activist you know for many
years and we’ve seen so many other
people and so many other spaces standing
up and speaking out against injustice
and inequality and calling out leaders
you know for even negligence people like
gratitude berg and emma gonzales and the
young people leading hong kong’s
umbrella movement and so many others and
you know i think it generation z is
definitely at the center of so much
social change and in many ways you are
the first with the mother of this youth
activism movement and so I’m curious how
you what you think about as you see so
many young people making real change out
there in the world but to be honest when
I started my activism has you know is in
10 or 11 year old girl what really
helped me and what really empowered me
was the support from my father and my
teachers and other people who believed
in my voice at that age
anyone could have easily told me that
Malala you are 11 you have no right to
say anything about these very serious
issues and you can go sit sit in your
room do some drawing and read some books
and that’s it
but I’m glad that my father and others
stood by me they valued my voice they
supported me and this is needed more
than ever so I
I’m glad that I believed in myself and I
step forward and I took myself seriously
right from the start I knew that I was
younger but I also at the same time knew
that I need to stay strong because if I
lose if I lose in this fight and if I
step back and if I started doubting
myself
that’s where failure starts if other
people don’t listen to me that doesn’t
matter because as long as I keep on
fighting I know that they will at some
point but when I start doubting myself I
think that’s the time when I when I sort
of failed so when I’m seeing these young
leaders speaking out whether for climate
change or against then you know guns
possessions and they’re talking about
gun control and girls are talking about
you know freedom and freedom of
expression and that just I feel so so
happy I cannot express this in words and
that’s something that I really want to
see in future I hope that more and more
young girls and boys come forward they
should believe in their voice I should
believe in themselves and I stand by
them I support them and I hope that you
know many others will stand by them and
support them we very much need them we
need their voices and I hope that this
group of young activists it’s sort of
expand it grows bigger and bigger we are
the future we care about our future we
want the healthier we want to safer we
want a better world for all of us and I
think in that we need to start our
activism now because there is just so so
much that needs to be done and that
needs to be fixed and do you do you
think that this moment is different in
some ways from the past how do you how
do you sort of frame this time in
comparison to maybe when you you know
first started being vocal about girls
education I back in the early 2010’s
100% I was in I was in grade five or six
when I started speaking out I you know
when you are young you want to envision
what your future is going to be like and
you always wait for that moment when
your studies will be completed and you
will not have those sort of constraints
around you that keeps your
vism or your movement a bit limited even
though you can still do a lot but you
still feel limited at the same time for
me right now when I have completed my
studies I feel it’s a moment that I am
looking forward to you know doing a sort
of flashback and looking back at you
know what I have achieved so far what
could I have done differently and what
is next and I do like the sense of
urgency that is right now
urgency for for change whether that is
to do with climate change whether that
is to do with racial justice whether
that is to do with equality against
sexism all these things I just love the
sense of urgency because it is pushing
all of us to do something now because
otherwise you know it is it is a status
quo things remain as they are and you
know those who are in power do not like
those changes so it’s him I’m really
happy that people are standing up and
they are challenging the current system
and what’s wrong in them because if we
keep on waiting I I just think there is
never that moment when you feel ok this
is the right moment to share in the
system because you might end up waiting
for your whole life it’s like another
couple of questions from the community
here so Chadbourne asks do you have
plans to enter government leadership in
the future not yet divided I think
government jobs are sort of quite tricky
you are quite limited and and if I do
want to enter into government leadership
that would be for sure in Pakistan and
in Pakistan everything is just so
complicated there are only a few
political parties hardly any of them
have a sort of good background that does
not include corruption or any scandals
that you know that you would love to
join that party and be with them so
there are these issues with every
political party and there’s also that
mindset that if you join that political
party then you have to defend them and
sort of you are you have to fight your
own
as well because if you disagree with
them and then you know all those sort of
things so I I personally don’t think
it’s I am I don’t feel like it’s the
right time to do anything in politics
right now my focus is going to because
education for the next five to ten years
and I you know I have I’ve been doing
that for for the last I don’t know ten
eleven years something like that so I
want to continue what and I’m very
passionate about education I hope that
in my lifetime I see every girl back in
school let’s take one more here so
Suhani asks how can we ensure equal
access to education for girls with
limited internet phone connectivity
during the pandemic when so many schools
are shut down I agree I think this is
this is also one of the challenges that
people are facing even if they have sort
of access to Internet and GPS it is
quite costly for many people and it is
very difficult to afford it and I think
it is concerning if you ask me for a
solution I don’t know what the solution
is but I think one of the best ways in
which you can address it is sort of
engaging with the local communities in
the local activists and when you engage
with that community they can tell you
that this is what is working for them
this is what is not as I mentioned
previously you know in some places it
could be a radio in some places it could
be the national television that could
really be helpful so we really need to
look into this when we should not take
it for granted so to go back to you Chad
burns question about you know thinking
about whether you’d go into government
so it sounds like that’s not in the
cards for you at least not right at this
moment I’m curious you know what what do
you see I guess for yourself in ten
years twenty years and even at the end
of your lifetime when you look back and
and see what you’ve accomplished you
know what do you really hope you’re your
greatest impact on history will be my
biggest biggest dream wish is to see
everyone in school
that has been my dream sort of since the
day when I myself was out of school I I
really remember that moment when I woke
up on the 15th of January 2009 and I
could not go to school this was because
the Taliban had banned girls education
in Swat and no girl was allowed to go
back to school and I realized that
education was more than just learning
from textbooks and more than just
writing and reading it was about
emancipation for women I felt more
vulnerable to being you know getting
married at early age to being
discriminated not being able to achieve
my dreams whether that was to become a
doctor or a teacher so these are the
things that are taken away from you at
the same time and that is since then I
have stayed committed to girls education
and I hope that in my lifetime I see
that I believe in it I you know
sometimes it sounds sort of too
optimistic and but I think we can do it
and and I am saying you know very
optimistic about that other I think
there’s there’s a lot more to fix I feel
like people we need to do a lot more
about empowering women allowing girls to
dream big and to dream sort of beyond
what society tells them to do and I want
to see more women in leadership I want
to see women running countries I want to
see women you know running companies and
big firms and going to space and you
know working in technology and being
part of all those sectors that are out
there so I hope to see that in my
lifetime and I hope to see a better
world a safer world for everyone
it’s great I mean and I think that you
know to just sort of end as we’re
wrapping up here you know it’s always
great to sort to hear what would make
people most hopeful but I think what
inspires a lot of people and what makes
so many people look to you as a source
of hope for themselves and as somebody
who they look up to as a role model is
sort of this this fearlessness that you
seem to have this this feeling that you
can sort of take anything on and I’m
curious
what what makes you afraid I guess in
this moment and then finally what what
makes you most hopeful but what scares
you um I think what scares me is is
being is probably being too slow and not
being not being true to myself I have
always believed in activism I have
always believed in change and I think it
is possible if you stay committed to it
so I hope that I stay committed to it
and and I hope that you know that I’m
surrounded by the right people who
guided me in the right path and and and
also I hope that you know after this
pandemic we do see the younger
generation raising their voice getting
that sort of creating that space where
they feel like they can contribute
towards change so I want to see more
young people in leadership and I hope
that they continue speaking out so it’s
just the fear that you know things
getting worse or I sort of stopping and
the activism not really fear but I I
just I just don’t want it to happen I
hope that we all stay committed to this
fight and and it is true people get
exhausted people get tired people lose
hope they don’t see any change there is
not just around by people who might been
encouraging them not to speak out
because just telling them that it could
be controversial or they might lose
support or they might lose this on that
so those sort of things are there and I
think it’s sort of staying strong in the
middle of those constraints that are out
there so I think that’s something that I
really hope that we all continue to have
what gives me hope is is is the hope
that young people have as I mentioned
young girls are in this younger
generation they are the future and I am
really really happy in and and hopeful
that they will be change makers and they
will improve this world they will fix
what you know our forefathers in for
five
sort of the mistakes that they have made
and they’ll fix the system that they
have created and we will remove racism
and sexism and other discriminations
that exist it might take time but we
will stay committed to it and we will
make a world that is fair and equal for
everyone thank you so much Malala for
this and I think that I speak for lots
of people watching right now and saying
that this has been inspiring and it’s
been wonderful to hear your thoughts and
your your perspective on all of this so
thank you so much for taking the time to
share your feelings on everything with
us and to talk with us today thank you
so it was wonderful talking to you and I
wish you good luck in everything and
yeah thank you so much thank you wishing
you can so much luck - thank you all