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Today, the education activist who survived a Taliban\u00a0assassination attempt and subsequently became an international icon for women’s and children’s rights, called on Canada to lead a global effort to prioritize education for girls and\u00a0refugees. Towards this end, Ms. Yousafzai asked the government of Canada to make girls\u2019 education a central theme of its G7 presidency in 2018.<\/p>\n
“I stand with girls, as someone who knows how it feels to have your right of education taken away and your dreams threatened,” said Ms. Yousafzai. “I know where I stand. If you stand with me, I ask you to seize every opportunity for girls\u2019 education over the next year.<\/p>\n
“The world needs leadership based on serving humanity \u2013 not based on how many weapons you have. Canada can take that lead.”<\/p>\n
Raising laughter from the gathered politicians, press, and other dignitaries,\u00a0Ms. Yousafzai added that she had been nervously excited to meet Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who attended an honorary Canadian citizenship ceremony for Ms. Yousafzai prior to her speech in Parliament.<\/p>\n
Ms. Yousafzai, 19, survived a Taliban assassination attempt in 2012 as she was leaving school in Pakistan\u2019s Swat Valley. She was targeted for her campaign against efforts to deny women a formal education. She now lives in London, UK, where she received medical treatment following the incident.<\/p>\n
Honorary Canadian citzenship is a purely symbolic honour. The recipient does not take the Oath of Citizenship and does not receive any rights, privileges, or duties typically held by a Canadian citizen.<\/p>\n
{slide=Click here to read the full text of Malala Yousafzai’s prepared speech to Parliament.}Bismillah hir rahman ir rahim.<\/p>\n
This is my first trip to Canada, but not my first attempt. On Oct. 22, 2014, my father and I landed at the Toronto airport, excited for our first visit to your wonderful country.<\/p>\n
We soon learned that a man had attacked Parliament Hill \u2014 killing a Canadian soldier, wounding others and threatening leaders and civil servants in the building where I stand today.<\/p>\n
Canadian security professionals advised us to reschedule. With sorrow in our hearts, we headed back to England, promising to return to Canada one day.<\/p>\n
The man who attacked Parliament Hill called himself a Muslim \u2014 but he did not share my faith. He did not share the faith of one and a half billion Muslims, living in peace around the world. He did not share our Islam \u2014 a religion of learning, compassion and mercy.<\/p>\n
I am a Muslim and I believe that when you pick up a gun in the name of Islam and kill innocent people, you are not a Muslim anymore.<\/p>\n
He did not share my faith. Instead, he shared the hatred of the man who attacked the Quebec City mosque in January, killing six people while they were at prayer.<\/p>\n
The same hatred as the man who killed civilians and a police officer in London three weeks ago.<\/p>\n
The same hatred as the men who killed 132 schoolchildren at Pakistan\u2019s Army Public School in Peshawar.<\/p>\n
The same hatred as the man who shot me.<\/p>\n
These men tried to divide us and destroy our democracies, our freedom of religion, our right to go to school.<\/p>\n
But you refuse to be divided. Canadians \u2014 wherever they were born and however they worship \u2014 stand together. And nothing proves this more than your commitment to refugees.<\/p>\n
Around the world, we have heard about Canada\u2019s heroes.<\/p>\n
We heard about the members of First United Church, here in Ottawa, who sponsored newlyweds Amina and Ebrahim Alahmad. A few months later the Alahmads had their first child \u2014 a little girl named Marya. The church decided to raise more money to bring Ebrahim\u2019s brother and his family to Canada \u2014 so Marya could grow up with her cousins.<\/p>\n
We heard about Jorge Salazar in Vancouver, who came to Canada as a child refugee, fleeing violence in Colombia. As a young adult, he\u2019s working with today\u2019s child immigrants and refugees, helping them adapt to their new country.<\/p>\n
And I am very proud to announce that Farah Mohamed, a refugee who fled Uganda and came to Canada as a child, is Malala Fund\u2019s new CEO. A Canadian will now lead the fight for girls\u2019 education around the world.<\/p>\n
Many people from my own country of Pakistan have found a promised land in Canada \u2014 from Maria Toorpakai Wazir to my relatives here today.<\/p>\n
Like the refugees in Canada, I have seen fear and experienced times when I didn\u2019t know if I was safe or not. I remember how my Mom would put a ladder at the back of our house so that if anything happened we could escape.<\/p>\n
I felt fear when I went to school, thinking that someone would stop me and harm me. I would hide my books under my scarf.<\/p>\n
The sound of bombs would wake me up at night. Every morning I would hear the news that more innocent people had been killed. I saw men with big guns in the street.<\/p>\n
There is more peace in my home of Swat Valley, Pakistan today, but families like mine \u2014 from Palestine to Venezuela, Somalia to Myanmar, Iraq to Congo \u2014 are forced to flee their homes because of violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome to Canada\u201d is more than a headline or a hashtag. It is the spirit of humanity that every single one of us would yearn for, if our family was in crisis. I pray that you continue to open your homes and your hearts to the world\u2019s most defenceless children and families \u2014 and I hope your neighbours will follow your example.<\/p>\n
I am humbled to accept honorary citizenship to your country. While I will always be a proud Pashtun and citizen of Pakistan, I am grateful to be an honorary member of your nation of heroes.<\/p>\n
I was also so happy to meet your Prime Minister this morning. I am amazed by his embrace of refugees, his commitment to appointing Canada\u2019s first gender-balanced cabinet and his dedication to keeping women and girls at the centre of your development strategy.<\/p>\n
We have heard so much about Prime Minister Trudeau \u2014 but one thing has surprised me: people are always talking about how young he is.<\/p>\n
They say:<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the second-youngest Prime Minister in Canadian history!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe does yoga!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has tattoos!\u201d<\/p>\n
While it may be true that he is young for a head of government, I would like to tell the children of Canada: you do not have to be as old as Prime Minister Trudeau to be a leader!<\/p>\n
I used to think I had to wait to be an adult to lead. But I\u2019ve learned that even a child\u2019s voice can be heard around the world.<\/p>\n
Young women of Canada, step forward and raise your voices. The next time I visit, I hope I see more of you filling these seats in Parliament.<\/p>\n
Men of Canada, be proud feminists. And help women get equal opportunities as men.<\/p>\n
And to the leaders of Canada in this room today: though you may have different politics and priorities, I know each of you is trying to respond to some of our world\u2019s most pressing problems.<\/p>\n
I have travelled the world and met people in many countries. I\u2019ve seen firsthand many of the problems we are facing today \u2014 war, economic instability, climate change and health crises. And I can tell you that the answer is girls.<\/p>\n
Secondary education for girls can transform communities, countries and our world. Here\u2019s what the statistics say:<\/p>\n
Education is vital for security around the world \u2026 because extremism grows alongside inequality \u2014 in places where people feel they have no opportunity, no voice, no hope.<\/p>\n
When women are educated, there are more jobs for everyone. When mothers can keep their children alive and send them to school, there is hope.<\/p>\n
But around the world, 130 million girls are out of school today. They may not have read the studies and they may not know the statistics \u2014 but they understand that education is their only path to a brighter future. And they are fighting to go to school.<\/p>\n
Last summer, on a trip to Kenya, I was introduced to the bravest girl I\u2019ve ever met.<\/p>\n
At age 13, Rahma\u2019s family fled Somalia and came to Dadaab \u2014 the world\u2019s largest refugee camp.<\/p>\n
She had never been inside a classroom \u2014 but she worked hard to catch up and, in a few years, graduated primary school.<\/p>\n
At 18, Rahma was in secondary school, when her parents decided to move back to Somalia. They promised she could continue her education.<\/p>\n
But when her family returned to Somalia, there were no schools for her to attend. Her father said her education was finished and that she would soon marry a man in his 50s \u2014 a man she did not know.<\/p>\n
Rahma remembered a friend from the refugee camp, who had won a scholarship to a university in Canada. She borrowed a neighbour\u2019s Internet connection and contacted him through Facebook. Over the internet, the university student in Canada sent her $70.<\/p>\n
At night, Rahma snuck out of her house, bought a bus ticket and set out on an eight-day trip back to the refugee camp \u2014 the only place she knew she could go to school.<\/p>\n
Through the Sustainable Development Goals, our nations promised every girl she would go to school for 12 years. We promised that donor countries and developing countries would work together to make this dream a reality for the poorest girls in the world.<\/p>\n
I know that politicians cannot keep every promise they make \u2014 but this is one you must honour. World leaders can no longer expect girls like Rahma to fight this battle alone.<\/p>\n
We can gain peace, grow economies, improve our public health and the air that we breathe. Or we can lose another generation of girls.<\/p>\n
I stand with girls, as someone who knows what it\u2019s like to flee your home and wonder if you\u2019ll ever go back to school.<\/p>\n
I stand with girls, as someone who knows how it feels to have your right to education taken away and your dreams threatened.<\/p>\n
I know where I stand. If you stand with me, I ask you to seize every opportunity for girls\u2019 education over the next year.<\/p>\n
Dear Canada, I am asking you to lead once again:<\/p>\n
First, make girls\u2019 education a central theme of your G7 Presidency next year.<\/p>\n
Second, use your influence to help fill the global education funding gap. You raised billions of dollars and saved lives when you hosted the Global Fund replenishment in Montreal last year. Show the same leadership for education.<\/p>\n
Host the upcoming replenishment of the Global Partnership for Education, bring world leaders together and raise new funding for girls to go to school. If Canada leads, I know the world will follow.<\/p>\n
Finally, prioritize 12 years of school for refugees. Today only a quarter of refugee children get secondary education. We should not ask children who flee their homes to also give up their dreams. And we must recognize that young refugees are future leaders on whom we will all depend for peace.<\/p>\n
The world needs leadership based on serving humanity \u2014 not based on how many weapons you have. Canada can take that lead.<\/p>\n
Our world has many problems, but we don\u2019t need to look far for the solution \u2014 we already have one.<\/p>\n
She is living in a refugee camp in Jordan. She is walking five kilometres to school in Guatemala. She is sewing footballs to pay enrolment fees in India. She is every one of the girls out of school around the world today.<\/p>\n
We know what to do \u2014 but we must look inside ourselves for the will to keep our promises.<\/p>\n
Dear sisters and brothers, we have a responsibility to improve our world. When future generations read about us in their books or on their iPads or whatever the next innovation will be, I don\u2019t want them to be shocked that 130 million girls could not go to school and we did nothing. I don\u2019t want them to be shocked we did not stand up for child refugees, as millions of families fled their homes. I don\u2019t want us to be known for failing them.<\/p>\n
Let future generations say we were the ones who stood up. Let them say we were the first to live in a world where all girls can learn and lead without fear.<\/p>\n
Thank you.{\/slide}<\/p>\n