Malala Yousafzai has called on Muslim leaders to stand against the Taliban government in Afghanistan and its oppressive policies toward girls and women.
“Simply put, the Taliban in Afghanistan do not see women as human beings,” she told an international summit hosted by Pakistan on girls’ education in Islamic countries.
Yousafzai highlighted to Muslim leaders that the Taliban’s actions—such as banning female education and preventing women from working—have “nothing to do with Islam.”
At the age of 15, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was evacuated from Pakistan after being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for advocating girls’ education.
During her speech in Islamabad on Sunday, Malala expressed being “overwhelmed and happy” to return to Pakistan, having only visited a few times since the 2012 attack, her first return being in 2018.
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She accused the Taliban regime of creating “a system of gender apartheid,” further stating that they are “punishing women and girls who dare to defy their oppressive laws, using violence, detention, and harm.”
Malala added that the Taliban mask their actions with claims of cultural and religious justification, but in reality, they “contradict everything our faith stands for.”
The Taliban did not respond to a BBC request for comment on her statements, although they have previously asserted that they respect women’s rights based on their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law.
Leaders from the Taliban were invited to attend the summit organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), hosted by Pakistan and the Muslim World League, but they did not participate.
The event brought together ministers and scholars from Muslim-majority countries who spoke in support of girls’ education.
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan again in 2021, no foreign government has officially recognized their regime. Countries have repeatedly stated that the Taliban’s policies restricting women must change.
Afghanistan is now the only country where women and girls are banned from secondary and higher education, with around 1.5 million girls deliberately denied schooling.
Despite repeated promises from the Taliban to allow girls to return to school once specific issues—such as ensuring an “Islamic” curriculum—were resolved, no progress has been made.
In December, the Taliban also imposed a ban on women training as midwives and nurses, effectively ending their last avenue for further education in the country.
Malala warned that girls’ education is at risk in numerous countries. She pointed to Gaza, where Israel has “decimated the entire education system.”
She urged those present at the summit to “call out the most egregious violations” of girls’ right to education, highlighting how crises in countries like Afghanistan, Yemen, and Sudan have resulted in “the future of girls being stolen.”
