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Malala Praises G7 Pledge To Provide Billions For Girls' Education


PAKISTAN -- Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai poses for a photograph at all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, during her hometown visit, some 15 kilometres outside of Mingora, on March 31, 2018. Malala Yousafzai landed in
PAKISTAN -- Pakistani activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai poses for a photograph at all-boys Swat Cadet College Guli Bagh, during her hometown visit, some 15 kilometres outside of Mingora, on March 31, 2018. Malala Yousafzai landed in

Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai praised the Group of Seven industrialized nations after they pledged nearly $3 billion to help vulnerable women and girls get educations.

The 20-year-old on June 9 said the move would "give more girls hope that they can build a brighter future for themselves."

The pledge came at the end of the G7 summit near Quebec, Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who hosted the event, called it "the single largest investment in education for women and girls in crisis and conflict situations."

Canada will contribute $300 million of the total, he said.

Malala was shot in the head on her school bus by Taliban gunmen in 2012 because she campaigned for the education of girls, which the militant extremist group opposes.

She wrote on Twitteron June 9 that the funds give "young women in developing countries the opportunity to pursue careers instead of early marriage and child labor."

Officials said the funds will be spent over the next three to five years and used to train teachers and improve curriculums, collect educational data, support new education methods, and raise the graduation rates for women and girls in developing countries.

With reporting by AFP

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