ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai returned to her country on Tuesday, confirmed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), to visit flood-hit areas and raise international awareness about the extent of the massive calamity.
Yousafzai was shot in the head by a Pakistani Taliban in 2012 in her native town of Swat for campaigning for girls’ education.
Soon after that, she was flown to the United Kingdom where she received medical treatment and continues to reside.
“Malala Yousafzai arrived in Karachi at 01:45 AM [Tuesday] on Qatar Airways flight 604,” the CAA confirmed in a brief statement.
Pakistan’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai (center) is pictured at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, on October 11, 2022. (Civil Aviation Authority)
According to the local media, the young Nobel laureate is expected to visit flood-affected areas in her country, though the details of her stay in Pakistan have yet not been revealed.
Torrential rains and melting glaciers triggered massive floods in Pakistan that swept away homes, key infrastructure, livestock and crops while affecting the lives of over 33 million people since mid-June.
Pakistan’s Sindh and Balochistan provinces have suffered the most due to the rains and floods.
The erratic weather pattern this year has been widely attributed to the challenge of global climate change.
According to official estimates, Pakistan has lost billions of dollars in the wake of the floods and will need significant international support to carry out the rehabilitation activities.
The United Nations General Assembly recently expressed solidarity with the country while asking the international community to increase aid to support its long-term recovery.
UN chief António Guterres, who also visited Pakistan and witnessed all the devastation, warned in a recent statement the situation was “going from bad to worse” since the country was “on the verge of a public health disaster” after the recent climate catastrophe.
