PESHAWAR:
Nearly a month after the shocking attack on Malala Yousafzai, civil society will mark a Global Day of Action on November 10 and call on authorities to rid society of violence against women.
NGO Action Aid Pakistan is preparing the event the same day former British premier and current UN Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown will present a petition to President Asif Ali Zardari calling on Pakistan to provide education for its nearly 5 million out-of-school children.
In a discussion with journalists from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Wednesday, representatives from Action Aid Pakistan, Citizen Rights and Sustainable Development (CRSD), and Peace Education and Development Foundation (PEAD) reflected on the plight of girls in Pakistan and how cultural and social attitudes deprive them of educational opportunities. The participants highlighted the importance of education and how illiteracy and ignorance leads to discrimination and violence against girls. They asked the government to allocate seven per cent of GDP to education by 2015.
Brown’s petition:
On October 15, Gordon Brown launched a petition using the slogan ‘I am Malala’ demanding no child be left without an education by 2015. Brown is set to present it to President Zardari when he visits Islamabad on November 10.
The petition contains three demands: All countries outlaw discrimination against girls, international organisations ensure 61 million out-of-school children across the world are provided an education and Pakistan agrees to plan to provide an education for every child in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2012.
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