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lFridav
12 Julv 2013I
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o*'LSSbs''&'d(

)-

on o u ra b b]p$Secretary

General

nssemot(r/u---------a'

Gen"rr,

t@lo;Qil

*;;honourable

res

pected p res ide nt of

th

UN envoy for global education Mr

, respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters: Assalamu

-

I*Tf.

it an honour for me

to

alaikum._
flf*5tsic

be speaking again after a long time. Being here with

such honourable people is a great moment in my life and it is an honour for me that
today I am wearing a shawl of the la$

l"$o

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

r o vou to God for whom we all are egualand thank you to every person w!''g hag_ggreg.*
_ z-y\dF"-t4;# ^for my fast recovery and new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown
*\oJ? -<^tr.\)'>-and gifts from all over the world.
me. I have received thousaldq of gogq- s
^* )".o '*
D{''
-\

-Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged
me. ThanKrellto my elders whose prayers strengthened me. I would like to t!"1{ *y

- ^h^foo
#f
"
,-\
nurses, doctors and the staff of the hospitals in\Pakistan
a.id the UK and the UAE
tv''\enci75fr

''ape'

government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength.

I

fully,support UN Secretary

Gener@Ilg@

in his

and the work of UN Special Envoy forplobal Educatio

respectful president of the UN

Assembly

Brown-and the
I

thank them for the

leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action. Dear

day of gyery
rights.

wogn,

every boy anq_every.-grr!*who have raised their voice for their

shc \s

\tr.r^\\ "'-

Therearehundreo'o@ndsocialworkerswhoarenotonly
speaking for their rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goal offeAqe,

education and gguality. Thousands of people have been killed bV tQterryrtry)nd

millions have been injured. I am just gne of them. So here I stand, one girl among many.
I

speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have
t\. \

nhwsjXurr
r
\

\,rs{-\C t,(vrq.

fought for their rights. Their right to live in peace. Their risht to be treated with dignity.

G*ddnifB|Jlg!!!o

egualitv of opportunitv' Theilr-Ohlto

b@

Dearfrieno.,o@r''"6frffibotmeontheleftsideofmyforehead.
'
L.--__---*4
\___=-i;'_-

They shot my friends, too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. but they
failed. And out of that silence came thousands of voices. The terrorists thought 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.

u,*car:c_

I-

y ambitions are the-game. My hopes are the same. And my

dreams are the ga,me. Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am

heretospeakintermsoffigainsttheTalibanoranyotherterrorist
group. I am here to speak for the right of education for every child. I wa

,.gTi*h*
\

3dUCatrOn

W..5$on
[c\\t

the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I donotevea

hate the Talih who shot me.

.x$s'

Even if there was a gun llt my hand and he was standing in front of me, l would not
shoot him. This is the

no@@the

This the

and

*'{-^'

have tearn"o

plrF

prophetffir"y,
I have inherited tron@lin*

c.oka-rs

y of nonviolence that I have learned

This is

Bacha K

And this is the forgiveness that I have learned

This is what my soul is telling me: be peaceful and love everyone.
Dear sisters and brothers, we realise the importance of light when we see darkness. We
realise the importance of our voice when we are silenced. ln the same way, when we
he

hojh-otlglSIgl,\we

realised the importance of pens and books

when we d#ffiH5 guns. The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." lt is true.

of books and pens.

The extremists are afraicl
id-of
They are afraid

of@]
.f:-":=-{

The@rightens
The@rightens

them.
them.
q\^*A:.Y*,

The power of the voice of women

(r rvr I l. This
r rvr I frightens
rr rvr trvt re them.
I I ll9 is
lo *nV
vvl ly

they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they

kill

female teachers. That is why they are blasting schools every day because they were

.\:
*vS$#'-)
J(\\\*

-.

and they are afraid of change and equality that we will bring to our society. And

remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist: "Why are
the Taliban against education?"He answered very simply by pointing to his book, he
said: "A T

is written inside

if'dr\frint that God is a tiny, little conservative

'

e.C.eJ
a\ a'\ &{L tglq$\\ec**q3

being who would point guns at people's

their
want

;"$%tO
DY

education for their daughters and

sons@s aflrylg

pe1c9, hum6-ity and

-fbrotherhood. lt is the duty and responsibility to get education for each child, that is what
it says. Peace is a necessity for education. ln many parts of the world, especially

@ndEqm,terrorism,warandconflictsstopchildrenfromgoingto
schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many

ways in many parts of the world.

N*

,*>*

ln\n-dfhnocent and poor children are victims of child labour. Many schools have
>r-+A

been

in$g@People in Afghanistan have been affected by extremism. Young

girls have to-)-"do domestic child labour and are forced to get married at an early age.
destroyed

Poverty, ignorance, inllrsticg,

rylg

the deprivation of

bas

re the main

problems, faced by both men and women.

4#

Fffiilll

am focusing on women's riq[ts

an@ecause

they are suffering

the most. There was a time when women activists asked men to stand up for their
rights. But this time we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from
speaking for women's rights, but I am focusing on women to be independent and fight
for themselves. So dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up. So today, we

--;b"d;ilo
worlc
change their strategic policies in favour of peace and
_-*--., -=----_
prosperity. We call upon the
hat all of these deals must protect women
call uponilhi6

and children's rights. A deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable.

'

We call upon all

ddJ.r"itsja
X-___-Z

ensure free, compulsory education all over the world

-------S.
r---------

for every child. We call upon all the g6vernmenfs tdlfight against terrorism and violence.

oaop\t &
l1a-t'stt'"t

To protect children from brutality and harm. We call upon the

supporttheexpansionofeducationopportunit-',.n@
call upon all communities to belclglant, to reject prejudice based on caste, creed, sect,
colour, religion or agenda to ensure freedom and equality for women so they can
flourish. We cannot all succeed

wheglglfg[us are held back. We call upon our sisters

around the world to be brave, to

their full potential.

"t8Pi#iile

strength within themselves and realise

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future.
We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education. No one can stop'a"a\;\Dc!-v"'
us. We will speak up for our rights and we will bring change to our voice. We believe in

the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the whole world
because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to
achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let
us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that milliont

povertv gnd

inJy:lgand

'Sfol"nqg.

of6""@

We must not forget,n",

-

are suffering from

t|lg:@are

out

of their schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright,

peaceful future.

,.,p.

+.o*{

rrAP-Y}"..q

So let us wage a _gjonous-S!rygg!9 against i!]j!eraer, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up
are the most powerful weapons. one child, one

@ey

leacla

one book and one pen can chan e the world. Education is the only solution. Education
dd-

Tirst. Thank you.

-F