Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who became world famous after surviving an attempted murder by the Taliban, was welcomed as a heroine to Oslo over the weekend. She’s been a guest in a string of cities and now says her goal is to become prime minister of Pakistan one day.
Known internationally as simply “Malala,” the now 16-year-old blogger’s private visit to Oslo was arranged through the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, with its chief, former prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, among those greeting her at the airport. Bondevik and Aamir Sheikh of the Conservative Party had both worked hard to get Malala to Oslo, where she’s also been a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Newspaper Aftenposten reported that around 100 well-wishers were waiting outside the Grand Hotel when she arrived after a visit to the Norwegian Red Cross. She also spoke to several hundred people outside the Parliament building, in which she urged children and youth not to take education for granted. They should all “study hard and do their homework,” she said.
That was a message well-received by Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who has made education a priority in her government and who met with Malala on Saturday. The young activist who stood up to the Taliban also met Crown Prince Haakon and was due to meet the president of Norway’s Parliament on Sunday before speaking to Bondevik’s peace and human rights organization.
newsinenglish.no staff
