Tomorrow has been designated Malala Day. Have you heard her story? Malala Yousafzai is the young girl in Pakistan who has been fighting for the education of girls in her country. in 2009, she began writing a blog for the BBC under a pseudonym, describing her life under the Taliban and expressing her thoughts about the importance of educating young girls. In 2010, the New York Times filmed a documentary about her and she became more vocal about her position. Desmond Tutu nominated her for the Interntaional Children's Peace Prize and she even won Pakistan's first National Youth Peace Prize.
In retaliation, the Taliban, who view girls' education is an obscenity, horrifically shot her in the head last month on October 9th. Ironically, their cruelty has only brought her greater fame and highlighted the cause for which she is fighting.
You can learn more about her story watching this video by ABCNews.com.
Her story is not uncommon. Across the globe, 32 million girls around the world are denied daily their right to go to a classroom and learn. But this issue often goes unnoticed. Too often the voice of girls and women are silenced, their education suppressed, because an educated woman is a powerful thing. We see the foolishness of war. Because of our role in our families, we seek peaceful relationships and cooperation among members. We are the voice of sanity in an insane world - and we are exactly what the world needs to settle differences and find common ground.
The Office of the UN Special Envoy for Global Education has taken up Malala's issue and are declaring November 10th a global day of action for Malala and all the other girls around the world who are denied an education. Tomorrow, Gordon Brown, Former British Prime Minister and current UN Special Envoy for Global Education, and his wife Sarah will travel to Pakistan to deliver to President Zardari their million-plus petition to make education a reality for all Pakistani children.
If you'd like to join me in showing support, you can sign the petition at www.iammalala.org.