From Pottery to Policy: Malala’s Day in Abuja Focused on Empowering Girls

This week, Nobel Laureate and Malala Fund co-founder Malala Yousafzai arrived successful Nigeria alongside Malala Fund committee members, Malala Fund CEO Lena Alfi, and her begetter and co-founder Ziauddin Yousafzai to beforehand Malala Fund’s halfway priorities. In Abuja, the girl’s acquisition activistic spent a afloat time listening, learning, and lifting up the voices of girls.
The time brought unneurotic 3 almighty moments, each reflecting the partnerships, creativity, and enactment needed to alteration acquisition for Nigerian girls.

Lunch with Education Champions

Malala began her time gathering with Malala Fund partners and advocates who are moving connected the frontlines of change. They shared stories of advancement and challenges,  from warring kid matrimony to pushing for much acquisition financing that genuinely meets girl’s  needs.
One spouse captured the tone of their work:

“In Kaduna, 1 of our girls told the governor, ‘I person had the accidental to spell to schoolhouse ,what astir those coming aft me?’ That infinitesimal pushed the authorities to state escaped acquisition for each girl. Now we are moving to marque definite that committedness is written into law. It shows the powerfulness of girls’ voices to thrust argumentation change.”  Habiba Muhammed , Malala Fund Education Champion and Executive Director, Centre for Girls Education (CGE)

Malala Fund partners are carrying this momentum guardant successful six states, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano and Oyo, tackling barriers similar kid marriage, teen gestation and insufficient acquisition financing. To date, Malala Fund has invested much than $9 cardinal successful Nigeria, and earlier this year, Malala Fund launched a caller planetary strategy that prioritises Nigeria arsenic a focal country.  The absorption is clear: utilizing acquisition arsenic a solution to extremity kid marriage, ensuring joined and large girls tin instrumentality to and decorativeness school, and advocating for accrued acquisition financing.

Pottery with young girls

Later, she joined a radical of young girls for a pottery session,  shaping clay unneurotic arsenic they shared their dreams for the future. The girls spoke openly astir the barriers that support galore of their peers retired of school, from economical hardship to aboriginal marriage. But they besides made wide what they are demanding: a spot astatine the decision-making table, wherever policies that impact their lives are shaped.
One miss enactment it simply:

“I privation each miss to beryllium fixed the accidental to imagination ‘to imagination big’ and to really execute those dreams. That’s my biggest...