Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, urged the leaders of Islamic countries at the Girls' Education Summit in Islamabad to recognize the Taliban regime as a perpetrator of gender apartheid.
She stated that the Taliban hides their actions against women and girls under cultural and religious justifications.
On the second day of the International Girls' Education Summit in Islamabad, Yousafzai addressed the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on girls and women, especially the ban on education and learning.
Referring to the decrees issued against women in Afghanistan, she called on the leaders of Islamic countries not to recognize the Taliban government. The Nobel Peace Prize winner expressed concern that in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, an entire generation of girls is being lost.
She also said that scholars and Muslim leaders must prevent the systematic exclusion of Afghan women and girls. She further stated that the Taliban's mission was clear—they aimed to remove women and girls from every aspect of public life and erase them from society. She also noted that the Taliban had created a gender apartheid system.
Yousafzai called on the leaders of Islamic countries to support the treaty on crimes against humanity and, by condemning the oppressive laws of the Taliban, to emphasize the values of Islam. She said that the way forward for Afghanistan is a political solution, not military force.
She emphasized that this path lay in the power of international law, human rights, and justice. The Girls' Education Summit in Islamabad began on Saturday. Ministers and ambassadors from 44 countries, as well as representatives from the United Nations and the World Bank, are also attending the event.
