DUBAI: Pakistani activist for girls’ education and youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai visited Pakistan Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.
She was accompanied by Malala Fund co-founder Ziauddin Yousafzai, education activist and Malala Fund partner Shehzad Roy, Director-General of Pakist an Pavilion Rizwan Tariq and Expo officials. Malala toured the pavilion which is premised on the theme of ‘Pakistan’s Hidden Treasures’.
“The Pakistan Pavilion celebrates Pakistan’s history, culture, traditions and potential. I was personally inspired by the exhibits promoting inter-faith harmony and environmental protection. I hope everyone who visits the Expo will be inspired to learn more about our beautiful country,” said Malala Yousafzai.
During the visit to Pakistan Pavilion, Yousafzai also viewed the ‘World’s Largest Holy Quran’ on display, created by artist Shahid Rassam. Malala Yousafzai also visited the Women’s Pavilion with Hind Alowais, Senior Vice President of International Participants department at Expo, as well as United Nations Pavilion with Maher Nasser, Commissioner-General for United Nations’ Participation in Expo.
During these visits, the co-founders highlighted Malala Fund’s efforts to help girls continue learning in the face of COVID-19, climate disasters, and conflict. They also shared their desire to increase their work in Pakistan through the Malala Fund’s Pakistan office.
My family and I attended @Expo2020Pak and saw exhibits celebrating Pakistan’s culture, faith, landscapes and people. I hope everyone who visits will be inspired to learn more about our beautiful country.
????: @mahwashr pic.twitter.com/otmIMTHqM8
— Malala (@Malala) January 28, 2022
Young women need to be heard
Earlier on Friday while speaking at the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, Malala Yousafzai that the world needs to listen to the voices of girls and young women, adding that humanity as a whole could only thrive when women were thriving.
“There are still more than 127 million girls who are deprived of education. My mission remains the same – for these girls to have access to safe, free quality and complete education,” she said.
‘I believe in the voice of girls. I want us to listen to the voices of girls and young women around the world – not to just sit here and share stories, but to participate in these conversations with them.”
“These women also need to be in the rooms where decisions are being made about their future so they can actively participate.”
She said ensuring every girl had access to education would boost the global economy by $30 trillion. “If you want to see change, you have to believe in it,” said Yousafzai. “I still have an ambition that one day there will be zero girls out of school.’
‘We cannot deny the reality of people being discriminated against because of their gender,” she said. “If you look at Afghanistan, where girls in secondary schools are denied their right to education, we should not be living in this world.”
She also praised the work done by the organisers of Expo 2020 Dubai to help promote opportunities for women. “When young girls visit the pavilions, they are learning something and can picture themselves in leadership roles,” she said.
“This is the message we send to our future generation: girls and boys can do anything, and gender should not be preventing them from any role they aspire to.”
