Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai spent her 19th birthday in Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camps, the world’s largest.
Malala’s spokesperson Taylor Royle told the Associated Press she has been in contact with a group of girls in Dadaab since last year and was looking forward to meeting them and others. She also spoke to others.
“We will not accept a world where decisions about our future are made in rooms girls cannot enter,” she said, speaking to refugees.
Malala said each birthday, she will go to a region where girls’ education is neglected and needs attention.
The five Dabaab camps hold more than 329,000 refugees. The refugee base is in eastern Kenya, and comprised of mostly Somali refugees. Kenya’s government has repeated that it will be closed in the next year because it has become a security liability.
“They should not be forced to move,” Malala also said in addressing the closing of Dadaab. “As we all know the camp is going to be closed down soon, so I want to make sure that these girls don’t become a generation lost and there are alternative facilities for them to continue with their education.”
“We will not accept a world where decisions about our future are made in rooms girls cannot enter.”— Malala pic.twitter.com/p9K0YmqAF8
— Malala Fund (@MalalaFund) July 12, 2016
Malala was shot in 2012 by militants while returning home from school in Pakistan, where she was a strong advocate for girls’ education. She won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.
Social media has celebrated Malala’s birthday using the hashtag #MalalaDay and #YesAllGirls.
