Islamabad
\nNobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called on the international community to tackle the global crisis of girls\u2019 education, emphasising the vital role educated women play in building a thriving society.
\n\u201cWe should begin by recognising what we are up against, a crisis that holds our economy back by hundreds of billions in lost growth, a crisis harming the health, safety and security of our people,\u201d Malala said while speaking on the second day of \u201cInternational Conference on Girls\u2019 Education in Muslim Communities: Challenges and Opportunities\u201d on Sunday.
\nThe federal capital hosted the two-day conference that brought together global experts, educators to address issues surrounding girls\u2019 education in Muslim countries.
\nPakistan faces its own severe education crisis, with more than 22 million children out of school, according to government figures, one of the highest numbers in the world.
\nMalala stressed \u201cif we don\u2019t tackle this crisis, our society will not thrive as it should\u201d.
\n\u201cWe will fail to live up to Islam\u2019s fundamental values of seeking knowledge.\u201d
\nThis conference, she said, is an encouraging first step. \u201cBut we can only have an honest and serious conversation about girls\u2019 educations, if we call out the worst violations of it.\u201d
\nThe event was snubbed by Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban government, as Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui told media that Islamabad had extended an invitation to Kabul, \u201cbut no one from the Afghan government was at the conference\u201d.
\nSince returning to power in 2021, the Afghan Taliban government has imposed an austere version of religious law that the United Nations has called \u201cgender apartheid\u201d.
\nTheir curbs have shut women and girls out of secondary school and university education, as well as many government jobs, and seen them sequestered out of many aspects of public life.
\nMuhammad Al Issa, a Saudi cleric and secretary general of the Muslim World League \u2014 which has backed the summit \u2014 said \u201creligion is no grounds for blocking girls from school\u201d.
\nMeanwhile, Pakistan is facing its own severe education crisis, with more than 22 million children out of school, according to government figures, one of the highest numbers in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called on the international community to tackle the global crisis of girls\u2019 education, emphasising the vital role educated women play in building a thriving society. \u201cWe should begin by recognising what we are up against, a crisis that holds our economy back by hundreds of billions in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-454965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n