UNESCO pays tribute to Malala Yousafzai

The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today praised the bravery of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani 14-year-old girl

who was injured during an assassination attempt on 9 October. According to a statement on UNESCO's website, the Director-General was speaking at a tribute for the schoolgirl organized by UNESCO’s Executive Board, on the final day of its 190th session. “Malala was targeted because she stood up for every young girl’s basic human right to receive an education,” the Director-General said. “This is an attack against all young girls, against the right to learn, the right to live life to the full; and it is unacceptable.” “Faced with such extreme cowardice and brutality, UNESCO’s Member States should draw inspiration from the courage of Malala who in recent years defended publicly the right of all girls to go to school. Seen that a 14-year old can stand up to the Taleban, what should we—we who have political power and the will to act—do? Malala’s courage impels us to join the struggle against barbarism,” added Ms Bokova, who welcomed the Pakistani Government’s mobilization to protect schools and search for those behind the attempt on Malala’s life. “We are all Malala and her courage must inspire our struggle to ensure the fundamental right of every human being to receive an education,” she concluded. On 9 October, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head as she travelled home from school in a bus in Swat, in north-eastern Pakistan. According to media reports, the Taleban have claimed responsibility for the attack during which two other schoolgirls were injured. Malala Yousafzai was transferred to a British hospital on 15 October for prolonged medical treatment. Malala Yousafzai attracted public attention in 2009 when she published a blog telling of her life in Swat, in an area under Taleban control. She then became an activist campaigning for the rights of children and girls. The day following the attack, on 10 October, the Director-General issued a press release denouncing the attempted murder. She wished to express her support for the Pakistani schoolgirl, who became a symbol of the struggle in favour of the right to education