We can finally give the world's poorest children the education they deserve
I hope the world's leaders will pledge to support the Global Partnership for Education on Thursday. So many children's futures depend on it
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A protest in Abuja about the Nigerian schoolgirls, taken by Boko Haram. 'The kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls is a reminder of the millions of girls who are denied an education.' Photograph: Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters
I am a daughter. My father is an example for me. And he is a great father because he says: "I did not give you something extra. I did one thing, I did not cut your wings."
This Thursday in Brussels, leaders from around the world will decide how much they will pledge to support the Global Partnership for Education.
Many of the leaders making the decisions for this summit are also fathers and mothers. And all of them were once children themselves. Will they now cut the wings of the world's poorest children, or will they give them the education they need to realise what is already inside of them, their God-given potential?
Until I spoke at the United Nations in July last year, I had never been to a summit before. My life in the Swat Valley of Pakistan seemed far away from these places of power.
Since my recovery after being shot by the Taliban for daring to go to school, I have been honoured to be asked to speak at many of these summits. I often wonder if all these meetings, all these speeches, do they really make a difference for girls like me?
I know now that what countries do at summits has the power to help girls in Pakistan, Nigeria or Afghanistan. This summit can be a breakthrough moment for the millions of children in school, or dreaming of one, who may not even know it's happening. But these men and women from rich and poor countries will have the power to either help those children reach their potential, or leave them without the future they deserve.
What is at heart of this meeting is the right of all daughters and sons to receive a quality education. The kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria is a reminder of the millions of girls who are denied an education. These girls are my sisters. They strengthen my resolve to fight for the right of every child to go to school.
Education is the best weapon we have to fight poverty, ignorance and terrorism. But today, 57 million children around the world do not go to school at all. Another 250 million children drop out or do not learn basic reading or maths by the time they reach grade four. We are failing these children. I think if we are all honest, we know we can do better.
I have been shocked to learn that, since 2010, aid for education is actually getting smaller. This makes no sense to me. We need to increase education budgets. In many countries, they do not even keep track of how girls are doing in school, or if they are there at all. If we say girls count, then we must count girls, so we can see if we are really making progress in educating every girl.
This Thursday, donor and developing countries will make pledges to fund education in 66 developing countries for the next four years, through to 2018. I hope to be in university by then, but I think about all the other girls who may still be waiting for even their first day of school if we don't act.
I hope all world leaders will speak to their representatives for the conference, and ask them to do their very best. Their pledges will mean real girls will learn and grow. It is not just a number on a paper. It is our future.
As these leaders sit together in Brussels, they have the opportunity to treat the world's children as they believe for their own. I hope they will be bold.
Young advocates from India, Pakistan, Tanzania, Kenya, Guyana, the Philippines and Ethiopia will also be at the summit, which is right, as the decisions taken will impact millions of children and young people. The Malala Fund is proud to have helped these students be able to attend the summit, as they are also fighting for the right to an education in their own countries. We must listen to the voices of these brave and growing leaders, as they are the only ones who can change the futures of their own countries.
Every student knows what it is like to take an exam. It is my hope all our world leaders will be inspired, and will pass their own test and resolve to keep their promises, not just at the summit, but every day, in every country, in every classroom.
I am grateful for all that countries are already doing to support education for children around the world. It is only with their increased leadership that millions more children will get a quality education. I hope the leaders meeting this week will be my friends in this fight. I know together, we are stronger.
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