Students, Teachers & Advocates: Education’s Frontline Defenders on Malala Day

The situation is grave: 12 million children in Pakistan have never attended school (two-thirds of them girls), Pakistani teachers killed for educating young women, and the bombing of girls’ schools. Female students have been targeted for attacks including the well-known shooting of Malala Yousafzai and her peers.

That’s why hundreds of youth from around the globe are taking over the United Nations on July 12 to advocate for their right to safe education. On her 16th birthday Malala will address the UN General Assembly and call on world leaders to support the Global Education First Initiative, which aims to put every child in school, improve the quality of learning, and prepare children to be global citizens.

“I believe Malala Yousafzai is the harbinger of change for not only Pakistan but for the whole world,” says Mohsin Moosa, a teacher in rural Pakistan. Moosa and other innovative teachers like him are committed to transforming education one student, one classroom, and one school at a time, whether it’s by increasing access to education for women or training other teachers to improve lesson planning. And local youth are also improving the education landscape, such as Afza, the college student who’s promoting literacy in low-income schools in Rawalpindi.

As we celebrate Malala Day at the United Nations, we recognize the work of frontline education defenders and innovators, from Malala herself to teachers like Moosa. What will happen when all students, boys and girls, have access to safe, universal education? Says Moosa, “I am certain that this will change the fate of my community.”

IREX wishes Malala a very happy birthday and salutes her work and the work of education advocates around the globe.