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July 15, 2013

Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani School Girl Targeted by Taliban, Addresses U.N. 
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The Pakistani schoolgirl attacked by the Taliban last year appeared at
the United Nations on Friday to deliver her first speech since
undergoing surgery and to celebrate a global day in her honor. Malala
Yousafzai was left seriously wounded when militants shot her in the head
for campaigning for the rights of girls. On Friday, her 16th birthday,
Malala said she is undeterred by the Taliban's efforts to silence her
voice.

Malala Yousafzai: "Dear friends, on the ninth of October 2012, the
Taliban shot me in the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends
too. They thought that the bullet would silence us, but they failed. And
out of the silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that
they would change my aims and stop my ambitions. But nothing changed in
my life except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died; strength,
power and courage was born."

Yousafzai says she intends to focus her campaigning on seeking
compulsory free education for all children.

 

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