Lebanon: Urging the global leaders to trim down their military expenditure in order to facilitate the education of children worldwide, education activist and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai marked her 18th birthday by opening a school in Lebanon for Syrian refugee girls.
The school named "Malala Yousafzai All-Girls School", opened near Syria border in Lebanon's Bekka Valley, is financed by the Malala Fund.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Malala called on the world leaders to invest in books and not bullets.
“In fact, if the whole world stopped spending money on the military for just 8 days, we could have the $39 billion still needed to provide 12 years of free, quality education to every child on the planet,” the teenager Nobel laureate wrote in a blog for the Malala Fund.
Malala Marks 18th Birthday In Solidarity With Syrian Refugee Girls http://t.co/gRGQisNAtu #MalalaDay #booksnotbullets pic.twitter.com/T60BGFYWeE
— Malala Fund (@MalalaFund) July 12, 2015
Calling the situation in Syria as a “heartbreaking tragedy”, Malala rebuked the world leaders for having failed Syrian children by not paying attention to their education needs.
“On this day, I have a message for the leaders of this country, this region and the world - you are failing the Syrian people, especially Syria's children,” she said.
On her birthday, also celebrated as 'Malala Day', girls across the globe participated in a campaign on Twitter named #booksnotbullets, by posting their pictures along with their favourite book and a comment explaining why a book was preferable over the bullets.
#Malala: "Thank you for giving me the greatest birthday gift... choosing #booksnotbullets." http://t.co/fMqtQtQw0v pic.twitter.com/vO9rsQ16lU
— Malala Fund (@MalalaFund) July 12, 2015
A special message from Malala, to all those who joined #booksnotbullets for her birthday: http://t.co/fMqtQtyV8X pic.twitter.com/2UfqzxvmGo
— Malala Fund (@MalalaFund) July 12, 2015
The campaign takes its name from the fact that in 2012, while on a bus returning from the school, Malala was shot in head by three bullets fired by Talibani militants for campaigning for girls' education.
Malala was flown to Britain for treatment and later settled in Birmingham, where she studies at Edgbaston High School.
