TOKYO: Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai Friday urged Japan and its fellow Group of 20 nations to pledge new funding for educating girls at June’s G20 summit, hosted by the Japanese.
Speaking alongside Shinzo Abe, the celebrated Pakistani education activist told Japan’s Prime Minister about “the importance of investing in girls now for future economic growth and global stability.”
“As the chair of this year’s G20, I hope Prime Minister Abe in Japan will lead on girls’ education and encourage all leaders to commit to new funding to prepare girls for the future of work,” she told reporters.
“I hope he can use his G20 presidency to help my sisters in Japan, G20 countries and around the world to reach their full potential because the world works better when girls go to school.”
Malala became a global symbol for girls’ education and human rights after a gunman boarded her school bus in October 2012, asked “Who is Malala?” and shot her.
After medical treatment in the UK, she continued her vocal advocacy and became the youngest-ever person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.
Malala urges G20 to boost funds for girls’ schooling
Malala urges G20 to boost funds for girls’ schooling
- Malala became a global symbol for girls’ education
- She is the youngest-ever person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014
Pakistan offers Turkmenistan its Arabian Sea ports for wider access to ‘South Asia and beyond’
- PM Sharif meets Turkmen president in Ashgabat, calls for deeper trade and energy cooperation
- Islamabad cites Karachi and Gwadar as key to boosting regional connectivity, including TAPI links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged Turkmenistan to expand trade and connectivity through Karachi and Gwadar, saying its Arabian Sea ports offer Turkmen businesses and exporters a direct route to South Asian and global markets, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said after high-level talks in Ashgabat.
Pakistan and Turkmenistan have long discussed regional transport corridors and energy cooperation, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a proposed multibillion-dollar project that would carry Turkmen natural gas south through Afghanistan into Pakistan and India. Islamabad has also pushed to link the landlocked Central Asian states to the sea by offering transit access through its deep-water ports, which sit at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Sharif met Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat as both countries look to revive momentum in bilateral engagement after years of regional instability. Pakistan has supported Turkmen neutrality policies at the United Nations, while Ashgabat has backed Pakistan during crises, including helping evacuate Pakistani nationals caught in Iran during the Iran–Israel conflict earlier this year.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to enhance connectivity with Turkmenistan through land and sea routes and said that Karachi and Gwadar ports were ideally located to be utilized by the Turkmen side to enhance their outreach to South Asia and beyond,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif reiterated his intention to deepen trade and economic ties with Turkmenistan, saying enhanced transport links and energy cooperation could anchor long-term regional integration. He invited President Berdimuhamedow and Turkmenistan’s national leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, on official visits to Pakistan next year.
Sharif is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan for the International Forum on Peace and Trust, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Energy Minister Awais Leghari, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials.
Turkmenistan’s president thanked Sharif for attending the UN-backed peace forum and said Ashgabat was keen to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to the statement.
