Nobel Peace laureate Malala Yousafzai became only the sixth person to receive honorary Canadian citizenship
Nobel Peace prize laureate Malala Yousafzai says she is “humbled” to become the sixth person to receive an honorary Canadian citizenship.
She is also the youngest to receive honorary Canadian citizenship — a privilege previously granted to five others including Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Myanmar s Aung San Suu Kyi.
She urged Canada to use its turn as president of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations in 2018 to press for the education of girls and refugees.
She urged Canada to use its turn as president of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations in 2018 to press for the education of girls and refugees.
Ms. Yousafzai, 19, was in Ottawa on Wednesday to accept her honorary Canadian citizenship and address Parliament.
Ms Yousafzai is a global advocate for women’s rights and education.
Malala urges Ottawa to act on the rights of refugees and girls
Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is calling on the Canadian government to lead a global effort to prioritize education for girls and refugees.
In an address to Parliament Wednesday, Ms. Yousafzai asked Canada to make girls’ education a central theme of its G7 presidency in 2018, to use its influence to help fill the global education funding gap and to prioritize 12 years of schooling for refugees:
I stand with girls, as someone who knows how it feels to have your right of education taken away and your dreams threatened. I know where I stand. If you stand with me, I ask you to seize every opportunity for girls’ education over the next year.
She also praised Canada’s embrace of refugees and its ongoing international development work for women and girls.
Malala Yousafzai’s speech to Canada’s Parliament wasn’t just moving. It was funny, too
Yousafzai, who was born in Pakistan, told the House she was grateful to be an honorary citizen of this “nation of heroes” — though she would still “require a visa.” (Anyone travelling with a Pakistani passport needs a visa to enter Canada.)
“That’s another discussion,” she added, before the House erupted in laughter and applause.
A little later, she talked about how her friends were so excited for her to meet Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — someone who “does yoga” and has tattoos — that “I don’t think anyone cared about the honorary citizenship.”
Strong women, not terrorists, true representatives of Pakistan: Malala
Malala stressed that terrorists do not represent Pakistan, it is in fact country’s strong women who truly portray Pakisan.
“Women who stand up for their rights, including myself, represent Pakistan. Terrorists do not represent my country,” she told Pakistan’s Geo News.
Malala said she is proud of Pakistan and vowed to take it to newer heights. “I am proud of Pakistan and I miss Pakistan. We are Pakistanis and we will take our country forward,” she pledged, adding that she will come to Pakistan soon.