Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani girl shot by the Taliban, has told the UN that books and pens scare extremists, as she urged education for all. Speaking on her 16th birthday, Malala said efforts to silence her had failed. She was shot in the head on a school bus by Taliban gunmen because of her campaign for girls' rights. The speech at the UN headquarters in New York was her first public address since last October's incident in Pakistan's north-western Swat valley. Malala has been credited with bringing the issue of women's education to global attention. A quarter of young women around the world have not completed primary school. She called on politicians to take urgent action to ensure every child has the right to go to school.
"The terrorists thought that they would change my aims and stop my ambitions," she said, but nothing changed in my life, except this: weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born." She continued: "I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and
extremists." Malala - who is widely considered a leading contender for the Nobel Peace Prize - said she was fighting for the rights of women because "they are the ones who suffer the most”. The extremists were, and they are, afraid of books and pens," added Malala, who was wearing a pink shawl that belonged to assassinated Pakistan leader Benazir Bhutto. "They are afraid of women. Let us pick up our books and pens; they are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world. Education is the only solution. Education first."
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