Malala Yousafzai will mark her 16th birthday today by delivering a speech at UN headquarters in New York, calling on governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child. It will be Malala’s first public speech since she was attacked on her school bus in Pakistan’s north-western Swat valley, shot twice in the head and neck, after standing up for her right to go to school.  The UN has declared 12 July 2013 as Malala Day.

 “I am humbled by this young woman, with the courage and grace to speak out for what she believes, for a better future for herself, her peers, and her country, for something that so many of us take for granted. For education”, said Soroptimist International President Alice Wells , shortly after the attack. Many Soroptimist clubs worldwide expressed their support for the courageous young girl.

Around the world, there are 57 million children without access to education and millions more who aren’t learning in school. Girls are particularly disadvantaged due to deeply-rooted gender-stereotypes and discrimination. 68 countries have not achieved gender parity in primary education and girls are disadvantaged in 60 of them.   1 in 5 adolescent girls are missing from school.

Girls living in areas affected by natural disasters or conflict are particularly at risk of missing out on education. 4 In 2010, only 79 per cent of young people in conflict affected poor countries were literate, compared with 93 per cent in other poor countries.

For more information read Plan International’s new report, Girls’ Education Under Attack

Every child has a right to an education and healthy societies need educated women. Girls who have been to school are likely to be healthier and earn more. They marry and have children later, and their children are more likely to survive and be healthier.

Soroptimist International and many of its clubs and members have signed a petition to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the UN:  

“Side by side with Malala, we demand that at the United Nations General Assembly, world leaders agree to fund the new teachers, schools and books we need — and to end child labour, child marriage and child trafficking — so that by December 2015 we meet the Millennium Development goal promise that every boy and girl be at school.”

Soroptimist International urges all governments to ensure that education for girls is accessible, acceptable, available, and of good quality, particularly for girls living in rural or remote areas; that female teachers are employed where possible and that learning outcomes, in addition to school attendance, are monitored.

Soroptimist International clubs are working in 127 countries and territories worldwide to

• eliminate discrimination against the girl-child
• implement projects to change cultural and societal beliefs which subordinate girl children,
• offer girls the skills, confidence, protection, and opportunities they need to achieve their full potential.

Watch Malala’s speech live: http://malaladay.org.uk/speech

Images: Top – Soroptimist clubs in the UK and Pakistan show their support for Malala in November 2012, bottom – Soroptimist International projects supporting access to education by clubs in Kenya, Madagascar, India, Trinidad & Tobago, Australia and Fiji.