“We are here to find a solution and it’s simple: education, education, education,” Yousafzai, now 16, told the audience as she made a plea for peace, education, and equality in her country and around the world.
“A war can never be ended by a war,” Yousafzai said. “You can only fight wars with education.
“Instead of sending guns, send pens,” she said. “Instead of sending tanks, send books. Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers.”
Yousafzai was in Cambridge to receive the 2013 Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award from the Harvard Foundation, which each year honors an individual whose work promotes equality, racial harmony, and peace. Previous recipients have included Elie Wiesel, Desmond Tutu, and Kofi Annan.
“This impressive young woman has touched many throughout the world,” S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation and Harvard Medical School (HMS) clinical professor of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, said as he presented the award. He called Yousafzai “a refreshing new voice on the world stage.”
The benefits of education for girls in developing nations has been underscored by a World Bank study that showed improvements to economic productivity and decreases in child mortality rates when girls are allowed to go to school, said Paula Johnson, HMS professor of medicine and executive director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who also spoke at the award ceremony.
“Education and health are totally intertwined,” Johnson said. “Malala, our work at Harvard is inspired by you.”
Malala
Yousafzai, who was joined by Harvard President Drew Faust in front of
Massachusetts Hall, addressed a group gathered in Harvard Yard prior to
attending the awards ceremony at Sanders Theatre. Stephanie
Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
“We educate women because it is smart. We educate women because it changes the world,” Faust said.
Read more at the Harvard Gazette here.
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