In his last week in office, United States President Donald Trump has signed the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act which will increase the number of scholarships available to Pakistani women.

Earlier in January, the US Congress passed the proposed law and sent it to the White House for the president to sign. In a statement issued by the White House, Trump signed into law the Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act on January 13.

The Act was first passed by the US House of Representatives last year in March and then by the US Senate by a voice vote on January 1. In a tweet, Malala thanked the US Congress for passing the legislation. "I'm excited to see where they lead us," she tweeted.

Under the Act, US Agency of International Development (USAID) will be awarding 50% of the merit and needs-based scholarship programs across a wide range of academic disciplines to Pakistani women.

The scholarships from 2020 to 2022, will be available across a range of academic disciplines and in accordance with existing eligibility criteria. The bill also requires USAID to consult with and leverage investments by the Pakistani private sector and Pakistani diaspora in the US to improve education programmes in Pakistan.