‘130 million girls do not have access to read’

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist, made an appearance at the Massachusetts Conference for Women in Boston.

Malala, the youngest-ever Nobel laureate, joined FIFA World Cup champion Megan Rapinoe and memoirist Tara Westover at the conference.

The conference was to encourage the audience to find their voices and elevate women.

Let Governor Polito, Simon Sinek, Malala Yousafzai, Megan Rapinoe just to name a few highlighted keynotes and a day full of insightful workshops and speaker panels Thank you @MassWomen for another inspiring year! #masswomen #MassWomen2019 pic.twitter.com/KcGqqnn4pz

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— Jenn K (@JennKlop) December 12, 2019

While speaking at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, the Nobel laureate said countries need to work on the education of young girls.

Yousafzai said countries around the world need to work toward providing girls with education.

“There are 130 million girls who are out of school right now,” she said. “They do not have access to a classroom. They do not have access to books. And they’re not just losing the opportunity to learn, but they’re losing the opportunity to have a future.”

Yousafzai said those girls who do not get access to education can “suffer from early child marriages,” and cannot “show their skills and contribute to community.”

The Pakistani activist said her goals include addressing “social norms that prevent girls from going to school,” and bringing more financial support for education.

“We need to push leaders and countries to contribute more towards girls’ education,” Yousafzai said.

Among the other keynote speakers was American soccer star and World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe, who said she was “in awe” by the amount of women who attended.

Around 12,000 women came to the conference on Thursday.

Rapinoe spoke about the U.S. National Women’s Team’s fight for equal pay.