Malala Yousafza Sparks Global Girls Rights Movement - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Girl Rising: Malala Fires Up a New Generation

By SPIEGEL ONLINE Staff

Daniel Berehulak / GETTY IMAGES / DER SPIEGEL

Last fall Malala Yousafza, a 15-year-old blogger in Pakistan, was gunned down for demanding the right to an education. She has taken her message to the UN, and girls worldwide are fighting back against violence and oppression. A global movement is taking shape. 

For Diya, the rebellion began in India on the day she sat at the police station, a shy 13-year-old girl, and was able to find words for the unspeakable: "He did something bad to me." She chose not to be silent though the man had said: "If you tell on me, I will kill your brother." She chose to testify.............

FULL ARTICLE HERE: Malala Yousafza Sparks Global Girls Rights Movement - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Pakistan's Malala takes education plea to UN - YouTube

LINK: Pakistan's Malala takes education plea to UN - YouTube

Malala Yousafzai at the UN: 'Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons' | guardian.co.uk

Education campaigner Malala Yousafzai delivers a speech to the UN on her sixteenth birthday, Malala Day Photograph: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

This is a transcription of the speech that Malala Yousafzai gave to the United Nations on 12 July 2013, the date of her 16th birthday and "Malala Day" at the UN.

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 is it 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 it is an honor for me that today I am wearing a shawl of the late Benazir Bhutto. I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't 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 would 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............

FULL ARTICLE HERE: 'Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons' | Malala Yousafzai | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk