Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl activist who has become a world champion of girls' rights, called Friday for the World Bank to make education its top priority. Seated on a stage with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim in a one-on-one presentation in Washington, the 16-year-old Malala delivered a poised, articulate and impassioned plea for children's education.
Asked by Kim for her advice to the World Bank, Malala noted that organisations spend much of their money on health, AIDS and other programs. "But I think all those organisations must make education their top priority," she said. That focus would fight child labour, child trafficking, poverty and AIDS.
Kim announced the World Bank was donating $200 million to the Malala Fund, a foundation she has launched to help girls around the world go to school and promote universal access to education. Malala said that she decided to launch the fund because she needed to do "work on the ground" to promote education, in addition to speaking out about the issues. Asked by a girl in the audience how she lives a normal teenage life, Malala replied: "I have accepted this busy life for a reason... the education of every child."
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