Malala Yousafzai Urges Leaders to Hold Taliban Accountable for Afghan Girls' Education
Malala Yousafzai called the Taliban's curbs on Afghan girls' education a crime and urged world leaders to hold the group accountable.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has urged world leaders to hold the Taliban accountable for its treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan, describing the situation as a system of gender apartheid.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Wednesday, Yousafzai said Afghan girls have the right to an education and characterised the Taliban's actions as a crime. She called on leaders not to normalise or legitimise the group and to listen to the voices of Afghan women and girls.
"Afghan girls have the right to receive their education, what the Taliban are doing is a crime," she said. "I hope that leaders will hold the Taliban accountable. It is a system of gender apartheid, which women are living. We have to challenge that and hold the Taliban accountable."
Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist who was shot by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls' education, has long campaigned on the issue. She shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian children's rights activist.
Her remarks came as she engaged with members of the media, repeatedly stressing the need for accountability and for Afghan women and girls to be heard in international discussions about the country's future.