In some ways Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by a Taliban assassin on her way to school in October of 2012, has a very unique story. She is one of the most famous 16 year olds in the world thanks to her advocacy for the right for girls to be educated and the trauma she suffered because of it. The young woman, who has just been nominated for the Children’s Nobel Peace Prize, has not lived an ordinary life for some time.
But perhaps what makes her story even more remarkable is that before she was shot Malala’s life was so ordinary. She was, like 470 million children dotted all over the globe, destined not to be educated.
“She is emblematic of many girls around the world who are in a situation where it’s not possible for them to go to school,” UNESCO director Vincent Defourny told Women’s Agenda. “There are many Malalas in the world — many, many Malalas in the world — and their rights have to be defended as well.”
Being denied the right to education creates and perpetuates further inequity for these children, which is what motivated Malala (and her father) to advocate for the right to attend school. UNESCO was the first international organisation to act when she was shot. The speed of their response may have been bolstered by the fact the full UNESCO governing board, from nations around the world, happened to be meeting when news of the attempted assassination surfaced.
Defourney, who was in Australia at the start of the month, says it had a huge impact on the gathered group. It ended up being the impetus behind the Malala Fund for Girls’ Right to Education which was established in Decemer 2013.
It is a cause The CEO Institute, the leading network of business leaders in Australia, is lending its support to. It’s the first Australian organisation to sign on to UNESCO’s Malala fund campaign.
“Education and opportunity is a central plank of what we do,” The CEO Institute’s Queensland chief executive Evan Davies explains. “UNESCO’s work to improve educational opportunities, particularly where there is disadvantage and discrimination, sits most comfortably with us.”
Gender diversity and equality is an important branch of that.
“We know the building and sustainability of future success in our organisations will come through social equity and gender diversity,” Davies says. “In 2009 just 5% of directors in the top 200 ASX listed companies were female. That has since grown to 25% but it’s still a shamefully small base. Building sustainability and competencies can only come through education and opportunities for everyone – not just males.”
Defourny says although it plays out differently in different countries, globally women remain disadvantaged. “Society is not properly valuing women in our collective psyche,” he says. “The message to convey is that we need more female leaders in business, in science, in every realm and that starts with education. This gender imbalance applies to each and every country in the world.”
Aside from the moral imperative to correct this, Defourny says UNESCO research shows the world economy loses $129 billion annually for not supporting “the left behind” in our society. The Malala fund is designed to bring those left behind forward and UNESCO is seeking partnerships with business organisations around the world to make that happen.
“The statistics are clear: each year of girls’ schooling boosts national growth by .58 percentage points,” Defourny says. “Malala stood up for her rights and then we stood up for her rights and the rights of all girls. The right to a proper education is so important.”