Nobel winner Malala marks 18th birthday by opening Syrian refugee school

Girls’ rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai has marked her 18th birthday by calling on world leaders to stop “failing” the people of Syria. Speaking at the opening of a Malala Fund girls’ school in Lebanon, the education activist described the situation in neighbouring Syria as a “heartbreaking tragedy”. The Pakistani teenager, who settled in Birmingham after being flown to Britain for treatment for gunshot wounds in 2012, also announced a new grant of $250,000 to support Unicef and UNHCR refugee programmes in Jordan.

On this day, I have a message for the leaders of this country, this region and the world - you are failing the Syrian people, especially Syria’s children. This is a heartbreaking tragedy - the world’s worst refugee crisis in decades.

Malala Yousafzai

The co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize said she felt honoured to spend her birthday - the third annual Malala Day - with “brave and inspiring” girls from Syria. In the run-up to Malala Day, people globally have taken action in support of her fund’s #BooksNotBullets campaign to highlight the importance of quality education for girls. Malala, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in October 2012 after campaigning for girls’ rights to education, added: “On behalf of the world’s children, I demand of our leaders to invest in books instead of bullets.”

Today is a day of celebration for Malala - a day the Taliban didn’t want her to see.

Tanya Barron, chief executive of global children’s charity Plan UK

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