Malala calls for more efforts towards girls’ education at the Massachusetts Women’s Conference

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel laureate, calls for girls’ education while making an appearance at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston on Thursday.

She joined FIFA World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe and memoirist Tara Westover at the conference to encourage the audience to find their voices and elevate women.

“There are 130 million girls who are out of school right now,” she said.

The Nobel laureate said countries need to work on the education of young girls.

“They do not have access to the classroom. They do not have access to books. And they’re not just losing the opportunity to learn, but they’re losing the opportunity to have a future”, she added.

Yousafzai stressed that those girls who do not get access to education can “suffer from early child marriages,” and cannot “show their skills and contribute to the community.”

Young Pakistani activist also added that her goals include addressing “social norms that prevent girls from going to school,” and bringing more financial support for education.

“We need to push leaders and countries to contribute more towards girls’ education,” Yousafzai said.

Megan Rapinoe, who took the stage after Malala, talked about the US women team’s World Cup soccer performance that gripped the nation and inspired conversations about equal pay, at the event.

“When you get up in the morning, put your Dr [Christine] Blasey Ford blazer on. Put your Hillary ClMalainton pantsuit on. These are the passports and the fabrics that we need to go out into the world that we can use as a superhero cape. That’s how we’re going to change the world. Because the system wasn’t designed for us,” Rapinoe said.

Rapinoe also taked about her iconic World Cup pose with her arms extended and chin lifted, one of 2019′s most recognizable images, and said it was an invitation to anyone who supported the team.

This year’s event was attended by more or less 12,000 women, to which Rapinoe said she was “in awe” by the number of women who attended the conference.