Malala Yousafzai is an amazing young woman. At just 17 years old she is the youngest recipient ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work towards increasing access to education for children all around the world, particularly girls.

You probably know that her work has been an inspiration to girls everywhere and that she heroically refused to back down even in the face of violence. I think you’ll agree with me- she’s a modern hero whose efforts have highlighted the struggle of millions of children worldwide who are not able to access school.

What you might not know is that Malala has been tight with Canada while undertaking her amazing work.

A Canadian myself, I was happy to see Canada show leadership in 2011 by providing funds to the Global Partnership for Education, an organization that works to get the 58 million children who don’t have access to school back in the classroom. Now, Malala is calling on Canada to step up once again.

This summer she teamed up with Global Citizens in Canada and beyond and called on the Canadian government to reaffirm their support for global education by making a bold commitment to the Global Partnership for Education by at least doubling their previous commitment. Global Citizens far and wide tweeted their support and stood beside Malala in her call.

Malala followed up by sending this moving message to the Global Citizen Festival to reaffirm her call to Canada to be a leader and increase their commitment to the Global Partnership for Education.

Canada has had it’s eye on Malala too, and to show just how impressed they are, this week Malala will become the sixth person ever to receive an honorary Canadian Citizenship. She’s in good company alongside Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

Malala and Global Citizens represent a united front when it comes to calling on Canada to be leaders. Together, let’s show the world the importance of funding global education.

----

Odette Hutchings