On Friday morning, wearing Benazir Bhutto’s white shawl, Malala Yousafzai sat in one of the United Nation’s main council chambers in the central seat delivering a defiant riposte to the Taliban. "Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution," she said, stressing the importance of an international campaign for girl’s education.

Last October, the Taliban had sent a gunman to shoot Malala after school in an attempt to silence her and end her campaign for girl’s education. 

Malala’s activism began at the age of 11 when she was personally calling on the US special representative to Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, to use his influence to stop the Taliban’s efforts against education for girls. When she was 14, Archbishop Desmond Tutu put her forward for the international children’s peace prize. The year after, Malala became the youngest Nobel peace prize nominee in history. 

The day at the UN, dubbed Malala Day, also marked her 16th birthday. But the event was a reflection on not only her story but also the story of 57 million children worldwide who do not have the opportunity to go to school. According to UNESCO, Pakistan has 5 million children out of school, second to Nigeria, which has more than 10 million children out of school. 

The Pakistani teenager gave Ban Ki-moon a petition signed by about four million people calling on the 193 UN members to financially support teachers, schools and books to meet primary education needs. 

“We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced,” she said. “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.”

From the NY Times: 

“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 activists and social workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them.”

Read the full transcript of her speech here.

 

Reach Executive Producer Syuzanna Petrosyan here. Follow her on Twitter.