Malala Speech

Honourable UN Secretary General Mr Ban  Ki- Dear friends, on 9 October 2012, the Taliban shot
moon, respected president of the General Assembly  me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my
Vuk Jeremic,  honourable UN envoy for global friends, too. They thought that the bullets would
education  Mr Gordon Brown, respected elders and silence us, but they failed. And out of that silence
my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu alaikum. came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought
they would change my aims and stop my ambitions.
Today is it an honour for me to  be speaking again But nothing changed in my life except this:
after a long time. Being here with such honourable weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength,
people is a great moment in my life and it is an power and courage was born. I am the same Malala.
honour for me that today I am wearing a shawl of My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same.
the late Benazir Bhutto. I don’t know where to And my dreams are the same. Dear sisters and
begin my speech. I don’t know what people would brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here
be expecting me to say, but first of all thank you to to speak in terms of personal revenge against the
God for whom we all are equal and thank you to Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to
every person who has prayed for my fast recovery speak for the right of education for every child. I
and new life. I cannot believe how much love want education for the sons and daughters of the
people have shown me. I have received thousands Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not
of good-wish cards and gifts from all over the even hate the Talib who shot me.
world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the
children whose innocent words encouraged me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was
Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This
me. I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and the is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed,
staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord
UAE government who have helped me to get better Buddha. This the legacy of change I have inherited
and recover my strength. from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and
Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
I fully support UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
in his Global Education First Initiative and the work This is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have
of UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother
Brown and the respectful president of the UN Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have
General Assembly Vuk Jeremic. I thank them for learned from my father and from my mother. This is
the leadership they continue to give. They continue what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love
to inspire all of us to action. Dear brothers and everyone.
sisters, do remember one thing: Malala Day is not
my day. Today is the day of every woman, every Dear sisters and brothers, we realise the importance
boy and every girl who have raised their voice for of light when we see darkness. We realise the
their rights. importance of our voice when we are silenced. In
the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of
There are hundreds of human rights activists and Pakistan, we realised the importance of pens and
social workers who are not only speaking for their books when we saw the guns. The wise saying,
rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal “The pen is mightier than the sword.” It is true. The
of peace, education and equality. Thousands of extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power
people have been killed by the terrorists and of education frightens them. They are afraid of
millions have been injured. I am just one of them. women. The power of the voice of women frightens
So here I stand, one girl among many. I speak not them. This is why they killed 14 innocent students
for myself, but so those without a voice can be in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they
heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their kill female teachers. That is why they are blasting
right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with schools every day because they were and they are
dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their afraid of change and equality that we will bring to
right to be educated. our society. And I remember that there was a boy in
our school who was asked by a journalist: “Why are
 Malala Speech
the Taliban against education?”He answered very world. We call upon all communities to be tolerant,
simply by pointing to his book, he said: “A Talib to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect,
doesn’t know what is written inside this book.” colour, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and
equality for women so they can flourish. We cannot
They think that God is a tiny, little conservative all succeed when half of us are held back. We call
being who would point guns at people’s heads just upon our sisters around the world to be brave, to
for going to school. These terrorists are misusing embrace the strength within themselves and realise
the name of Islam for their own personal benefit. their full potential.
Pakistan is a peace-loving, democratic country.
Pashtuns want education for their daughters and Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and
sons. Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and education for every child’s bright future. We will
brotherhood. It is the duty and responsibility to get continue our journey to our destination of peace and
education for each child, that is what it says. Peace education. No one can stop us. We will speak up for
is a necessity for education. In many parts of the our rights and we will bring change to our voice.
world, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, We believe in the power and the strength of our
terrorism, war and conflicts stop children from words. Our words can change the whole world
going to schools. We are really tired of these wars. because we are all together, united for the cause of
Women and children are suffering in many ways in education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then
many parts of the world. let us empower ourselves with the weapon of
knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity
In India, innocent and poor children are victims of and togetherness.
child labour. Many schools have been destroyed in
Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that
by extremism. Young girls have to do domestic millions of people are suffering from poverty and
child labour and are forced to get married at an injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that
early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and millions of children are out of their schools. We
the deprivation of basic rights are the main must not forget that our sisters and brothers are
problems, faced by both men and women. waiting for a bright, peaceful future.

Today, I am focusing on women’s rights and girls’ So let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy,
education because they are suffering the most. poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and
There was a time when women activists asked men our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One
to stand up for their rights. But this time we will do child, one teacher, one book and one pen can
it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away change the world. Education is the only solution.
from speaking for women’s rights, but I am Education first. Thank you.
focusing on women to be independent and fight for
themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it’s
time to speak up. So today, we call upon the world
leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of
peace and prosperity. We call upon the world
leaders that all of these deals must protect women
and children’s rights. A deal that goes against the
rights of women is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free,