New UN plan to get girls in school boosted by Malala's father

The father of Malala Yousufzai, the girl shot in Pakistan for speaking on behalf of girls education, attended the unveiling of a new plan to get girls around the world into schools.

By Taha Siddiqui, Correspondent / December 10, 2012

... Organizers dubbed it the "Malala Plan," after Malala Yousufzai, the 15-year-old education activist who survived being shot by a Taliban gunman in October. Malala's father, Ziauddin, attended the ceremony along with Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, who announced a $10 million in seed funding for the plan.

The new plan highlights just how bleak girls’ education in Pakistan has become: More than 1,500 schools have been bombed by the Taliban since 2008 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – the province where Malala comes from. According to recent data, less than 80 percent of children aged 6 to 16 in Pakistan are enrolled in school; of those who do attend, only 36 percent are girls ...

“We, as a community, need to be inspired by people like her father – Ziauddin, who against all odds stood up to give education to Malala and continues to do so. Through such effective communication symbols, the mindset can change,” Minallah says adding, that to counter the propaganda and fear instilled by the Taliban, a stronger communication strategy coupled with effective security can turn the education sector around.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/1210/New-UN-plan-to-get-girls-in-school-boosted-by-Malala-s-father