Nobel laureate Malala Yousufzai arrives in Pakistan to visit flood-stricken areas

By
Afzal Nadeem Dogar
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Malala Yousufzai at the Karachi airport. — Reporter
Malala Yousufzai at the Karachi airport. — Reporter

  • Malala Yousufzai lands in Karachi.
  • Nobel laureate is accompanied by her parents.
  • Yousufzai is expected to extend assistance from the Malala Fund for flood relief.


KARACHI: Nobel laureate Malala Yousufzai arrived in Karachi on Tuesday to visit the flood-stricken areas of Pakistan.

Yousufzai is being accompanied by her parents during the trip amid strict security.

Nobel laureate and girls' education campaigner is visiting the flood-affected areas to raise international awareness regarding the devastation caused by climate change in the South Asian nation.

Pakistan witnessed more than usual monsoon showers this season that sparked countrywide flooding and left a third of the nation underwater, causing damage to standing crops and roads and rail tracks in Sindh and Balochistan.

Yousufzai is expected to extend assistance from the Malala Fund for flood relief.

In the first week of September, the Malala Fund issued an emergency relief grant to the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The IRC will use the funds to provide psychosocial support to girls and women in flood-hit Sindh and Balochistan.

The funding will also be used to deliver emergency education services to ensure girls continue their education. The assistance from the Malala Fund will help repair and rehabilitate ten damaged government schools for girls.

This is the second time that the 2014 Nobel peace prize winner has visited Pakistan.

In October 2012, Yousafzai — then 15 years old — was shot in the head at point-blank range by Taliban gunmen as she was returning from her school in Swat valley.

She suffered bullet injuries and was admitted to the military hospital in Peshawar but was later flown to London for further treatment.

The shooting drew widespread international condemnation.

She has become an internationally recognised symbol of resistance to the Taliban's efforts of denying women education and other rights.

In 2014, Yousafzai became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17 in recognition of her efforts for children's rights.