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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was in Pakistan to visit the flood-stricken areas, said that the psycho-social and economic impact of the climate-induced floods especially on women and girls cannot be overstated.
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The 25-year-old girls’ education activist visited Dadu where she interacted with the female flood victims and she listened to their plight due to the climate-induced calamity.
Taking to Instagram, Malala talked about girls and their education being affected due to the calamity, hoping that the international community and country leaders continue to provide emergency aid to the flood victims and ensure girls safely return to school.
“This week, I returned to Pakistan to visit communities and hear from young women and educators impacted by this summer’s devastating floods that destroyed an estimated 24,000 schools. Half of those were in Sindh,” she wrote.
Talking about her visit to Pakistan, the Nobel laureate called the destruction “astounding”, saying that some of the villages are still submerged.
“People are waiting for their homes, schools, hospitals and shops to be repaired and reconstructed. And the psychosocial and economic impact, especially women and girls, cannot be overstated,” she added.
She also announced that her organisation Malala Fund has committed emergency grants to local organisations in Pakistan to support flood relief.
Urging the federal and provisional governments to accelerate response, Malala said that they need to ensure that people get the resources they need to survive and return to their lives and educations.
Quoting a flood victim Sohaila, who wanted to go to school, Malala said that she hopes the leaders will to Sohaila and every girl like her.
During her visit to Pakistan, Malala visited camps in rural Sindh province where she met with women who have fled their submerged villages, describing them as “very brave”.
She also expressed her concerns over the impact on education, with two million children missing classes and 12,000 schools damaged.
