today it is 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's an honor for me that today I'm wearing a Shaw of bay naazir BTO Shahid 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 a 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 worlds 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 in the UK in the UAE government who have helped me to get better and recover my strength I fully support Mr ban kimon the Secretary General in his Global education fast initiative and the work of the UN
special Envoy Mr Gordon Brown and the respected president General Assembly w y I thank all of them for their leadership that they continue to give they continue to inspire all of us to action dear brothers and sisters do remember one thing 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 their rights but who are struggling to achieve their goal of Peace education and equality
thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured I'm just one of them so here I stand so here I stand one girl among many I speak not for myself but for those without voice can be hard those who have fought for their rights their right to live in peace their right to be treated with with with dignity their right to equality of opportunity their right to be educated dear friends on the 9th of October 2012 12 the Taliban shot me on 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 that silence came thousands of voices the terrorist 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 I am the same Malala my ambitions are the same my hopes are the same and my dreams are the same dear sisters and brothers I'm not against anyone neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other
terrorist group I'm here to speak up for the right of Education of every child I want education for the Sons and Daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists I do not even hate the Talib who shot me even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me me I would not shoot him this is the compassion that I have learned from Muhammad the prophet of mercy and Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha this this is the legacy of change that I have inherited from Martin Luther King Nelson
Mandela and Muhammad Ali Jen this is this is the philosophy of nonviolence that I have learned from Gandhi Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa and this is the Forgiveness that I have learned from my father and from my mother and this is what my soul is telling me be peaceful and love Everyone dear sisters and brothers we realize the importance of light when we see Darkness we realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced 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 the wise saying the pen is mightier than sword was true the extremist were and they are afraid of books and pens the power of Education the power of Education frightens them they are afraid of women the power of the voice of women frightens them and that is why they killed 14 innocent students in the recent attack in qua and that is why they killed female teachers and polio workers in that is why they're blasting schools every day because they were and they are afraid of change afraid of equality that we
will bring into our society and I 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 Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book they think that God is a tiny little conservative being who would send girls to the hell just because of going to school the terrorists are misusing the name of Islam and pashon Society for their own personal [Music] benefits Pakistan is a peaceloving democratic country pashun want education for their
daughters and sons and Islam is a religion of Peace humanity and Brotherhood Islam says it's not only each child's right to get education rather it's their Duty and responsibility honorable Secretary General peace is necessary for education in many parts of the world especially Pakistan and Afghanistan terrorism Wars and conflicts stop children to go to their schools we are really tired of these wars women and children are suffering in many ways in many parts of the world in India innocent and poor children are victims of child labor many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria people in
Afghanistan have been affected by the hurdles of extremism for decades young girls have to do domestic child labor and are forced to get married at early age poverty ignorance Injustice racism and the deprivation of Basics basic rights are the main problem faced by both both men and women dear fellows today I'm focusing on women's rights and GS education because they're suffering the most there was a time when women social activists asked men to stand up for their rights but this time we will do it by [Music] ourselves I'm not telling men to step away from
speaking for women's rights rather I'm focusing on women to be independent to fight for themselves so dear sisters and brothers now it's time to speak up so today we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favor of peace and prosperity we call upon the world leaders that all the peace deals must protect Women's and Children's rights a deal that goes against the rights of women is unacceptable we call upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education all over the world for every child we call upon all the governments to fight against
terrorism and violence to protect children from brutality and harm we call upon the developed Nations to support the expansion of educational opportunities for girls in the developing world we call upon all the communities to be tolerant to reject Prejudice based on cast Creed sect color religion or genda to ensure freedom and equality for women so that they can flourish we cannot all succeed when half of us are held back we call upon our sisters around the world to be brave to embrace the strength within themselves and realize their full potential 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 us we will speak up for our rights and we will bring change through 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 millions of people are suffering from poverty Injustice and ignorance we must not forget that millions of children are out of their schools we must not forget that our sisters and brothers others are waiting for a bright peaceful future so let us wage so let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy poverty and terrorism let us pick up let us pick up our books and our pens they are our most powerful weapons one child one teacher one book and one pen can change the world education is the only solution Education
First thank you
