Malala calls for investment in girls’ education

March 24, 2019

Tokyo--Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai called for investment in girls' education in an international conference in Tokyo on Saturday.

World leaders must invest in girls' education so women can play active roles in the future, Malala, 21, said in a keynote speech at the fifth conference of the World Assembly for Women, or WAW!.

Malala, who is on her first trip to Japan, stressed that she is representing 130 million girls who are out of school.

Economic effects worth 30 trillion dollars will be generated if all girls in the world complete secondary education, said the cofounder of the Malala Fund to support girls' education.

She also sought financial assistance from the Group of 20 economies ahead of their summit in Osaka, western Japan, in June, adding that something beyond imagination can be accomplished through investment in women.

Malala, who had campaigned for women's rights to receive education in Pakistan, her homeland, was shot in the head by an Islamic militant group in 2012.

She moved to Britain to receive treatment and continued her study and activities for girls in the country. In 2014, she became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17. Jiji Press