Malala Visits Home: Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday (October 11), her first visit to her home country in more than four years, to inspect regions hit by the cataclysmic floods and meet flood-hit victims.
More than 1,700 people were killed, 33 million displaced and a third of the country was submerged under water in the worst floods to hit Pakistan, brought about by unprecedented rains since mid-June.
The World Bank has projected that Pakistan could face economic losses to the tune of up to USD 40 billion due to the floods.
Her visit aims “to help keep international attention focused on the impact of floods in Pakistan and reinforce the need for critical humanitarian aid”, her non-profit organization, Malala Fund, said in a statement.
Earlier, Malala Fund issued an emergency relief grant to the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to support flood relief efforts and “protect the wellbeing of girls and young women in Pakistan”.
“My heart breaks seeing the destruction in Pakistan and the lives of millions of people devastated overnight.
I urge the international community to respond, not just with generous aid and assistance, but with immediate action on policies to curb climate change and establish climate-finance mechanisms," Yousafzai was quoted as saying by the website.
Yousafzai, 25, last visited Pakistan in March 2018. This is her second visit to Pakistan since she survived a Taliban attack in Swat District in October 2012, following which she was flown to a specialized hospital in Birmingham in the UK.
After her recovery, Yousafzai announced that she would launch a movement for the promotion of girls’ education.
In December 2014, Yousafzai aged 17, became the youngest to become a Nobel Prize laureate. In April 2017, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres selected Yousafzai to be the UN messenger of peace, the highest honour bestowed by a UN chief on a global citizen.
In November 2021, she married Asser Malik at a private ceremony in Birmingham.
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