In the name of god,the most beneficent,the most merciful Honorable UN secretary general mr ban ki-moon
Respected president of the general assembly vuk jeremic Honorable UN envoy for global education mr Gordon brown Respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters
Assalamu alaikum
Today it is an honor for me to be speaking again after a long time Being here with such honorable people is a great moment in my life And its an honor for me that today im wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto
I dont know where to begin my speech
I dont know what people would be expecting me to say
But first of all thank you to god for whom we all are equal
And thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and new life
I cannot believe how much love people have shown me
I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world
Thank you to all of them, thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me
Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me
I d like to thank my nurses ,doctors and the staff of the hospitals in
Pakistan and the UK
And the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength
I fully support mr ban ki-moon,secretary general in his global education first initiative
And the work of UN special envoy for global education Gordon brown
And the respectful president of the UN general assembly vuk jeremic
I thank all of them for the leadership they continue to give They continue to inspire all of us to action
Dear brothers and sisters
Do remember one thing, malala day is not my day
Today is the day of every woman,every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights
There are hundreds of human rights activities and social workers who are not only speaking for their rights,but who are struggling to achieve their goal to peace,education and equality.
Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists. And millions have been injured,im just one of them,so here I stand, so here I stand ,one girl ,among many,I speak not for myself,but for those without a voice can be heard, those who have fought for their
rights,their right to live in peace.
Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.
Dear friends, on 9 October 2012
The Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead.they shot my friends too.
They thought that the bullets would silence us,but they failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices,
The terrorists thought they would change my aims and stop my ambitions.but nothing changed in my life except this.weakness,fear and hopelessness died.strengh, power and courage was born.
Im the same malala. My ambitions are the same,my hopes are the same,and my dreams are the same,
Dear sisters and brothers, im not against anyone, neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban, or any other terrorist group. Im here to speak for the right of education of every child, I want education for the songs and daughters of the Taliban, and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the talib who shot me,even if there was a gun in my hand,and he was standing in front of me ,I will not shoot him, this is the compassion I have learned from mohammed,the prophet of mercy and jesus Christ and lord Buddha,this is the legacy of change I have inherited from martin
luther king, nelson Mandela and mohammed ali Jinnah, this is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from gandi,bacha khan and mother teresa
,and this is the forgiveness that I have learned from my father and my mother, this is what my soul is telling me ,be peaceful and love everyone,
Dear sisters and brothers,
We realize the importance of light when we see danrkness, We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced, In the same way,when we were in swat,the north of Pakistan,
We realized the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns,
The wise saying, the pen is mightier than the sword, its true The extremists were and they are afraid of books and pens,
The power of education frightens them, they are afraid of women, The power of the voice of women frightens them,
And that is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in quetta,
And that is why they killed female teachers, and polio workers in Khyber pakhtunkhwa
That is why they are blasting schools every day,because they were and they are afraid of change
And afraid of equality that we will bring into our society, and I remember that there was a boy in our school, who was asked by a journalist why are the Taliban against education, he answered very simply by pointing to his book,he said, a talib doesnot know what is written inside this book,
They think their god is a tiny,little conservative being who would point guns at people’s heads just for going to school,the terrorists are misusing the name of islam and pashtun society for their own personal benefit,
Pakistan is a peace loving,democratic country, pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons, islam is a religion of peace,humanity and brotherhood, islam says that it is not only each child’s right to get educaioon,rather it is their duty and responsibility Honourable secretary general, peace is necessity for education, in many parts of the world,especially Pakistan and Afghanistan,terrorism,war and conflicts stop children from going to schools ,we are really tired of these wars,women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world, in india, innocent and poor children are victims of child labor, many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria, people in Afghanistan have been affected by the hurdles of extremism for decades, young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to gt married at an early
age, poverty ,ignorance,injustice,racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems, faced by both men and women, Dear fellows
Today im focusing on women’s rights and girls’education ,because they are suffering the most,
There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their rights,but this time we will do it by ourselves, im not telling men to step away from speaking for women’s rights,
Rather im focusing on women to be independent to fight for themselves,
So dear sisters and brothers, now its time to speak up ,so today, we call upon the world leaders,to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity..
We call upon the world leaders that all of these deals must protect women and children’s rihts.
A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable,
We call upon all the governments to ensure free,compulsory education all over the world for every child,
We call upon all the governments to fight against terrorism and violence,to protect children from brutality and harm,
We call upon all the developed nations to support the expansions of education opportunities for girls in the developing world,
We call upon all communities to be tolerant,to reject prejudice based on caste,creed,sect,color,religion or agenda.to ensure freedom and equality for women, so that they can flourish,
We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back
We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave,to embrace the strength within themselves.and realize their full potential. Dear brothers and sisters
We want schools and education for every child’s bright future,we will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education,no one can stop us ,we will speak up for our rights, and we will bring change through our voice,we believe in the power and the strength of our words, our words can change the whole world,because we are all together,united for the course of education, And if we want to achieve our goal,then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge,
And let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness,
Dear brothers and sisters ,we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty and injustice and ignorance,we must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools,
We must not forget that our sisters and bothers are waiting for a bright ,peaceful future, so let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy ,poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our
pens,they are the most powerful weapons,
One child ,one teacher, one book ,and one pen can change the world, education is the only solution, education first ,thank you!