Hailing from a conservative Pakhtun background, Malala Yousafzai once dared to set on a dangerously difficult journey towards women empowerment and she succeeded not only on an individual level but is still striving hard, paving the road towards enlightenment and education for Pakistani women.
One recent example of her struggle being materialized is the ‘Malala Yousafzai scholarship act’ that has been passed by US congress to increase the availability of need and merit-based scholarship programs for Pakistani women who are eager to pursue higher education.
The bill was initially passed in March 2020 by the house of representatives, and then on 1st January, it further proceeded when it was passed by the United states senate by a voice vote. The bill now awaits US President Donald Trump to sign it and transform it into law.
The respective bill will make the US Agency for International development responsible to award a minimum of 50% scholarships under a Pakistan-based higher education scholarship program to Pakistani women, from the year 2020 to 2022. This scholarship will cover multiple disciplines and subjects following existing eligibility criteria.
The bill also requires USAID to consult with and leverage investments by the Pakistani private sector and Pakistani diaspora in the United States to improve and expand access to education programs in Pakistan.
Furthermore, an annual report will be prepared by USAID about the number of scholarships that would have been awarded via this program. The report will include every detail about the awardees of this scholarship and will be categorized according to gender, discipline, and course type; the percentage of recipients who were involuntarily pushed out of the program for failure to meet program requirements; and the percentage of recipients who dropped out of school, including due to retaliation for seeking education.
Since 2010, approximately 6000 scholarships have been awarded to young female students of Pakistan to provide them assistance in acquiring higher education. This assistance has been expanded through this bill to cover more students.
Malala started her struggle to educate children especially women in Pakistan in 2008, fighting against the Pakistani Taliban who used to impose objections on women being sent to schools. In October 2012, Malala was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban on her way home from school.
Malala shared the Nobel peace prize with Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi for her “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and the right of all children to education” on October 10, 2014
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