Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenage champion of girls’ education who defied the Taliban and suffered gunshot injuries, did not win the Nobel Peace Prize, but she had a private Oval Office audience with President Barack Obama and his family on Friday.
The Obamas invited Malala to the White House “to thank her for her inspiring and passionate work on behalf of girls’ education in Pakistan”.
The United States “joins with the Pakistani people and so many around the world to celebrate Malala’s courage and her determination to promote the right of all girls to attend school and realise their dreams”, said a White House statement. Malala said she was honoured to meet the Obamas and thanked the US President for supporting education in Pakistan and Afghanistan and for Syrian refugees.
But she also brought up the controversial issue of US drone strikes in Pakistan, saying these were killing innocent people and fuelling terrorism.
“I also expressed my concerns that drone attacks are fueling terrorism,” she said in a statement later, adding: “Innocent victims are killed in these acts, and they lead to resentment among the Pakistani people. If we refocus efforts on education it will make a big impact.”
Even as Malala said in an interview to CNN that she hopes to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan one day, Obama noted in a separate White House proclamation to mark the International Day of the Girl: “Across the globe there are girls who will one day lead nations, if only we afford them the chance to choose their own destinies.”
“On every continent, there are girls who will go on to change the world in ways we can only imagine, if only we allow them the freedom to dream,” the proclamation said. Malala’s “courage and efforts are remarkable, and the President absolutely honours them”,White House spokesman Jay Carney said.